The Balm | She said to me, "I only arouse your jealousy

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by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Le Baume

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Elle m'a dit : « Je ne provoque ta jalousie
que pour savoir mieux que tu m'aimes. »
Ainsi, quelquefois, afin de me faire oublier
ce que j'ai souffert durant ses morsures,
elle baise les croissants roses 
que ses dents ont gravés dans ma chair.

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des caresses, H. Piazza, Paris : 1921, p.31

Text Authorship:

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le baume", appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 27 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

by Amable Massis (1893 - 1980), "Le Baume", published 1931 [ voice and piano ], from Le Jardin des caresses, no. 1, Paris : éditions Costallat : Lucien de Lacour [sung text not yet checked]

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

This text was added to the website: 2025-01-02
Line count: 6
Word count: 44

The Balm

Language: English after the French (Français)

She said to me, "I only arouse your jealousy
so that I can be more sure that you love me." 
Thus, from time to time, to make me forget 
what I have suffered from her biting, 
she kisses the pink crescents 
that her teeth have engraved in my flesh.

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.
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Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le baume", appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 27
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-04-16
Line count: 6
Word count: 49