The Garden in the Oasis | On a morning like this one

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by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Le Jardin dans l'oasis

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

Our translations: ENG

Par une matinée semblable à celle-ci,
je t'aurais attendue dans mon jardin de Djem'yat. 
Les rayons du soleil ne percent jamais
sa voûte de rosiers et de géraniums.
Aucun oiseau ne peut se glisser
entre les palmes qui l'entourent.
Il est le calice inviolable de l'oasis.
Il est son cœur silencieux. 
Pour toi, j'aurais mis à rafraîchir,
entre les narcisses du ruisseau, 
les dernières grenades et les premiers raisins... 
Et j'aurais jonché le gazon de toutes mes glycines.

Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, Paris: L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, page 99.

Text Authorship:

by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le Jardin dans l'oasis", appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 101 [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 Abel Nathan , "Le Jardin dans l'oasis", published 1930 [ voice and piano ], from Le Jardin des caresses, no. 3, Paris : L. Philippo [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Garden in the Oasis", 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: 2025-02-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 78

The Garden in the Oasis

Language: English after the French (Français)

On a morning like this one,
I would have waited for you in my garden at Djem'yat. 
The rays of the sun never pierce
its vault of roses and geraniums.
No bird can slip
between the palms that encircle it. 
It is the inviolable chalice of the oasis.
It is its silent heart. 
For you, I would have put to cool,
among the narcissi of the stream, 
the last pomegranates and the first grapes ... 
And I would have strewn the lawn with all my wisterias.

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 Jardin dans l'oasis", appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 101
- 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: 2026-03-06
Line count: 12
Word count: 85