Despair | You want my heart? I no longer have it

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by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Le désespoir

Language: French (Français) after the Arabic (العربية)

Our translations: ENG

Tu veux mon cœur ? Je ne l'ai plus. 
Tu sais qui me l'a volé.
Tu veux mon âme ? Je ne l'ai plus. 
Demande-la donc à l'Ange noir. 
Je te donnerai mes quatre poignards
pour que tu me cloues sur ta porte,
mais laisse-moi te dire mon amour !
— Puisque tu veux mourir, que ferai-je de ton amour ? 
— Une chanson que tu chanteras sur ma tombe.

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des Caresses, 73e édition, Paris : L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, p.78

Text Authorship:

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le désespoir", appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 51 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Arabic (العربية) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by J. Boutnikoff , "Le désespoir", op. 22 no. 1, published 1930 [ voice and piano ], from Le Jardin des caresses - Le tombeau d'Antar, no. 1, Paris : Editions Maurice Sénart [sung text not yet checked]
by Alberto di Pierlas , "Le Désespoir", published 1933 [ voice and piano ], from Cinq Chants extraits du Jardin des caresses, no. 3, Paris : R. Deiss [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Despair", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-02-14
Line count: 9
Word count: 66

Despair

Language: English after the French (Français)

You want my heart? I no longer have it.
You know who stole it from me.
You want my soul? I no longer have it.
Go ask the black Angel for it.
I will give you my four daggers 
so that you can nail me to the door,
but let me tell you of my love!
"Since you want to die, what shall I make of your love?" 
"A song that you will sing over my grave."

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le désespoir", appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 51
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Arabic (العربية) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-02-26
Line count: 9
Word count: 77