English translations of Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, opus 10

Hark, you dreaming fir forest,
Hark, you blooming hedges,
You woodpecker upon the tree-trunk, you hawk in the eyrie,
You deer in your hiding places,
You green lizard upon the rock,
You squirrel in the branches:
The loveliest girl in the whole wide world
Has said that she is mine.

One chap brought her flowers
Tied up all around with silk ribbons,
Another precious stones and even pearls,
A third serenaded her.
Along came a travelling journeyman,
No fripperies did he proffer,
He gazed into her bright eyes,
And kissed her lips, her rosy lips.

First she wept, then she threatened,
Finally she embraced me tightly;
The distress of yearning love
Forced her heart toward mine.
And were the glory of the kingdom
Offered to me in trade by the emperor,
I would say: Lord Emperor, I am sorry for you,
Go onward in peace, Lord Emperor.

Now rush more loudly, you waterfall!
Join in with my happiness;
Swing all your bells and little bells,
You flowers of the hearth;
Sing your most beautiful melodies, 
You finches upon the branches.
The loveliest girl in the whole wide world
Has said that she is mine.

With storm-winds and rain
April departed;
The storms die down,
The winds are quiet.
A colourful arc
Glows in the sky;
May has arrived,
The hawthorn bush blooms.

In the bush by the water-spring
Madame Nightingale is singing;
A tanned lad
Embraces his maiden.
Their blood surges in waves,
They kiss until they are weary.
May has arrived,
The hawthorn bush blooms.

The northwind chases
The leaves of the forest's trees,
In the stormy weather
There is one who sits and laments:
Betrayed, deceived!
The ancient song -- -- --
May has flown away,
The blooming of the hawthorn has ended.

With his breast heavy with rue and [heartache]1,
A lad walks through the green heath.

"Sun, bright sun," he says pleadingly,
"You are omniscient, all-seeing;

"Give me tidings of the maiden, the pale one,
That I once left at the water-spring in the forest."

The sun speaks: "Upon my journey I saw
Many a forsaken woman with pale cheeks,

"But the one whom you left behind laden with sorrow,
I did not see as I travelled my bright pathways."

When in an evening hour the moon appears,
The lad asks the moon as well for tidings:

"Did you not see, from your heavenly height,
That One, whom I left in woe?"

The moon speaks:  "Indeed I saw many a poor
Woman tortured by enormous sorrow,

"But that one whom you once betrayed,
I did not see from my heavenly arch."

Quietly in the grass two narcissi are whispering:
"Neither moon nor sun can know

"Where his pale love is to be found,
But we flowers could doubtless tell him,

"We, who conceal ourselves in the earth,
Until spring wakens us from out of our coffins."