One look from your eyes into mine,
One kiss from your lips on my lips,
Can one who has certain knowledge of these, as I,
Take pleasure in anything else?

Far from you, separated from my loved ones,
I let my thoughts roam constantly,
And always they alight upon that one
Single hour: and I begin to weep.

Suddenly my tears are dried:
He loves indeed, I reflect, here in this stillness,
Oh, should you not reach out to me in the far distance?

Hear these whispered words of love
My sole happiness on earth is your goodwill to me;
Give me a sign!

On moonlit nights,
how to argue with fate
my heart forgets.
The heavens, rich with stars,
fill me with a sense of peace;
and I think: even here
bloom many flowers;
and more freshly do I gaze with my silent,
yet troubled look,
up to the course of the eternal stars.

On them, hearts do bleed;
on them, pains do torture;
yet they continue to shine cheerfully.
So it happily occurs to me
that our small earth too,
full of discord and danger,
is a cheerful light
interlaced into this diadem;
thus appear the stars
from a distance!

It is a maiden who, day and night,
floats before my soul.
A maiden, as if she could walk and talk,
made of heavenly appeal.
I see her when, through my window
the morning looks mildly;
I see her when, charmingly, like the picture,
the evening star beckons to me.

She follows me, a faithful companion,
to peace and to tumult;
I would find her in the earth's core,
I would find her even in Heaven.
She hovers before me in field and wood,
resplendent over the flowerbed,
and sparkling in the form of a seraph
at the altar where I pray.

 ... 

But this picture alone, that both day and night
floats before my soul,
is it only a creature of fantasy,
made of air and dreams?
O no, for however warm a love
this angelic picture paints,
it is but a shadow of the loveliness
that radiates from the real maiden.

In the alder bushes, in the pine grove,
In the sun- and moon- and star-light
An image smiles around me.
Before its smile,
The twilight quickly clears, revealing a bright heaven,
A paradise of wildness.

It whispers in the evening breeze,
It gleams in the fragrance of morning,
It dances in the meadow,
It pipes in the quail’s song,
And is reflected in the clear brook,
And bathes in the dew.

It draws near, in sweet intimacy,
To me in deepest darkness
So bashful and so quiet.
It lulls me into a state of gentle tranquility,
And breathes dreams in my sleep
In a wonderfully sweet way.

I open my arms to it yearningly,
And strive (cozily and with the warmth of love)
To press it to my breast.
I reach out, and catch only empty air,
And the unseen thing, like a swirl of mist,
Floats away from my sight.

Who are you, fair image made of air,
Both angelically fair and angelically mild,
Who fill me with pain and pleasure?
Are you a courier from a better world
Who beckons me out of this desolate field
To its homeland?

O fly on ahead! I’ll follow you.
To be with you would be bliss; but not here.
Speak, so I can catch you,
And carry away all pains,
Ensnaring you, and ensnared by you,
Never, never to leave you.

"Why does your sword drip with such blood,
Edward, Edward?
Why does your sword drip with such blood
And why do you go so sadly there, O?"
"O, I have killed my hawk so good, 
Mother, Mother;
O, I have killed my hawk so good, 
And I had no more but he, O!"

"Your hawk's blood was never so red,
Edward, Edward!
Your hawk's blood was never so red,
My dear son, I tell you, O!"
"O, I have killed my red-roan steed,
Mother, Mother;
O, I have killed my red-roan steed,
That was once so fair and free, O!"

"Your steed was old, and you have got more,
Edward, Edward!
Your steed was old, and you have got more,
Some other thing troubles you, O!"
"O, I have slain my father dear,
Mother, Mother;
O, I have slain my father dear,
Alas and woe is me, O!"

"And what penance will you do for that,
Edward, Edward?
And what penance will you do for that,
My dear son, now tell me, O!"
"I'll set my feet in yonder boat,
Mother, Mother;
I'll set my feet in yonder boat,
And I'll go over the sea, O."

"And what will you do with your towers and your house,
Edward, Edward?
And what will you do with your towers and your house
That were so fair to see, O?"
"I'll let them stand till they fall down,
Mother, Mother;
I'll let them stand till they fall down,
For here never more may I be, O."

"And what will you leave to your children and wife,
Edward, Edward?
And what will you leave to your children and wife,
When you go over the sea, O?"
"The world has room, let them beg through life,
Mother, Mother;
The world has room, let them beg through life,
For them never more will I see, O."

"And what will you leave to your mother dear,
Edward, Edward?
And what will you leave to your mother dear,
My dear son, now tell me, O!"
"The curse of hell from me shall ye bear,
Mother, Mother;
The curse of hell from me shall ye bear,
For the counsel ye gave to me, O!"