Night falls, the wind roars
And whips the waves hither.
"I rather fear, my sweet child,
That we can no longer see land."
Thereupon the mermaid arose and said,
And said it concisely and freely:
"I never, beloved, told you
That the wedding would be on land.

I never said that a priest would
Speak his blessing over us upon the soil;
I never said that ours would be 
A residence upon the land."
""Where is the priest then, my child
If he is missing upon earth?""
"The waves shall roar the blessing
As soon as we are married."

""Where is your castle then, lovely maiden,
If it be not on the land?""
"My castle, it is in the depths down there
Built upon yellow sand,
Erected upon the keels of ships
And the skeletons of the drowned.
The fish are the game in my forest,
The waves enclose [my forest].

My castle is fenced by the blue wave
Upon the yellow sand of the sea;
There are flowers blooming in my garden
As they never bloom upon the land.
There I shall give you many fields
And meadows there under the sea;
No father gives to his son-in-law
So many goods [and estates].

In a short while the moon that sleeps
In the waves shall rise,
Then we shall descend into my castle
Quite fifty fathoms deep."
Wildly, wildly, the bridegroom screamed out,
Loudly, loudly, the bride laughed. --
The moon rose, they descended
And were married down below.

The yellow foliage trembles,
the leaves fall down;
oh, everything, that is lovely and sweet,
wilts and sinks into the grave.

The tops of the forest conceal
a painful sunshine;
the last kisses are like
the departing summer.
 
I weep, as I must,
from deepest heart's reason;
this scene again reminds me
of our parting-hours.
 
I had to [part from]1 you
knowing, you would die soon!
I was the departing summer,
you were the [ailing]2 forest.

You must not weep for me,
It does not help you, my heart,
For that which can unite us,
Also separates us: namely, pain.

You must not lament over me,
Oh leave off the sighing.
I must nevertheless tell you
That I shall never be yours.

You weep for me in vain,
And yet with a single word
I take from you the comfort
Of your life, ah! forever.

Let your wounds bleed,
My wound, too, burns;
We shall only be united
When we have utterly been separated.

Swallow, tell me,
was it your old husband
with whom you built your nest,
or have you just recently
entrusted yourself to him?

Tell me what you twitter about,
tell me what you whisper about
in the mornings, so confidentially?
Eh? You haven't been
a bride for very long, have you?