Coral | It is a bush devoid of leaves or flowers

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by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Le corail

Language: French (Français) after the Chinese (中文)

Our translations: ENG

C'est un arbuste dépourvu de feuilles et de fleurs.
Ni pierre ni jade. Qui nous l'a envoyé ?
Mais qui t'a donné ce cœur insensible, my bien-aimée ?

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, page 91.

Text Authorship:

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le corail", appears in La flûte de jade, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1920 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Chinese (中文) by Tsao Chang Ling (1719 - 1763) [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):

[ None yet in the database ]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

by Louis Delune (1876 - 1940), "Ngo gay ngy", 1922, published 1924 [ medium voice, piano, flute ad libitum ], from Le Collier des offrandes, six poèmes lyriques d'après des poésies chinoises, no. 6, Paris, Éditions Hérelle, Fortemps, & Cie
- View the full text. [sung text not yet checked]

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

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

Researcher for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-04-15
Line count: 3
Word count: 26

Coral

Language: English after the French (Français)

It is a bush devoid of leaves or flowers. 
Neither stone nor jade. Who sent it to us? 
But who gave you your insensitive heart, my beloved?

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 corail", appears in La flûte de jade, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1920
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Chinese (中文) by Tsao Chang Ling (1719 - 1763) [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-04-15
Line count: 3
Word count: 27