The First Kiss | She was standing next to me

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by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Le premier baiser

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

Our translations: ENG

Elle était debout près de moi.
Je l'ai regardée jusqu'à l'âme et j'ai saisi ses poignets.
En fermant les yeux, elle m'a offert sa joue.
Le voyageur altéré se contente-t-il de fruits
quand une fontaine est proche ?
Enfin, nos lèvres s'unirent.
Et tout son corps, contre le mien, ne fut plus qu'une bouche.

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des Caresses, 73e édition, Paris : L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, p.52

Text Authorship:

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le premier baiser", written 1911?, appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 50, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1911 [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 Alfred Cozanet (1870 - 1938), as Jean d'Udine, "Le premier baiser", published 1929 [ high voice and piano ], from Sept poèmes arabes extraits du Jardin des Caresses de Franz Toussaint, no. 1, Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel [sung text not yet checked]

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

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

Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-02-17
Line count: 7
Word count: 53

The First Kiss

Language: English after the French (Français)

She was standing next to me. 
I looked deep into her soul and I grabbed her wrists. 
Closing her eyes, she offered me her cheek.
Does the thirsty traveler content himself with fruit
when a spring is nearby? 
At last our lips met. 
And all of her body, against my own, became no more than a mouth.

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 premier baiser", written 1911?, appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 50, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1911
- 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: 7
Word count: 57