Tenor solo:
 It was the rose's first pain.
 Seeking comfort she looked toward heaven
 And onward in the evening glow
 The flower-queen quietly wanders.

 A lonely, unpretentious house
 Her eye now spies again.
 Leaning against the graveyard [wall]
 Beautified on all sides by lilacs;

 Through the open gate stand cross and stone
 Transfigured by the golden evening light.
 She enters, there stands an aged man,
 Bent is his silvery head,

 He digs - the spade in his hand,
 A grave into the green land.

Rose:
 For whom is this grave here, deep and small?

Gravedigger:
 For our miller's little daughter.

Rose:
 Oh poor sister, deeply mourned!-

Gravedigger:
 It was a hard death -- a death full of pain
 To die of a broken heart --

Rose:
 How shall I interpret your words?
 Does true love bring such suffering?

Gravedigger:
 Who loved deeply and was betrayed,
 Death was his lot -
 He will be healed of his pain
 Only in the motherly bosom of the earth.-

Rose:
 Oh sister, deeply mourned!-

Gravedigger:
 But see, there comes with doleful dirge
 The funeral cortege along the road.