English translations of Zwei Gesänge für 1 tiefe Singstimme mit Pianoforte, opus 104

 Down yonder in the sawmill
 I sat in good repose
 and saw the wheels go spinning
 and watched the water too.

 I saw the shiny saw blade,
 as if I had a dream,
 which carved a lengthy furrow
 into a fir tree trunk.

 The fir tree as if living,
 in saddest melody,
 through all its trembling fibers
 sang out these words for me:

 At just the proper hour,
 o wanderer! you come,
 it's you for whom this wounding
 invades my heart inside.

 It's you, for whom soon will be,
 when wanderings cut short,
 these boards in earth's deep bosom,
 a box for lengthy rest.

 Four boards I then saw falling,
 my heart was turned to stone,
 one word I would have stammered,
 the blade went 'round no more.

Yes, that is the dear place
Where I first saw her!
How the wave splashes so gently,
How softly the breezes blow!

Those rocks, those bushes,
The loneliness of those shadows,
The scented freshness of those grottos
Reminds me of times past.

Everything reminds me, everything shows me
Anew a precious image,
And my soul bows down quietly,
And the mute sigh wells up.

Those rocks are founded
Upon the earth’s deepest womb,
But the radiance of the sun is departing,
[The radiance] that suffused them with roses.

And thus the blossom wilts,
Renewed only in song,
Ah, no yearning can bring back
The blissful time of first love!