The blessing of the night already sounds more quietly
And wishes to fade away like the strains of a harp,
And softly and gently
Upon the pinions of the tones,
Hark! the blessing of the day has awakened.
  Thus between night and day,
  How heart and soul may rejoice!
  Morning stillness, to be blessedly alone,
  Blessedly alone with God!

  The last star upon the twilit blue is already
Sparkling more dully and wishes to dissolve,
From out of dark grey
The day wishes to come alight,
But night still lies upon chasm and meadow.
  Thus between night and day,
  How heart and soul may rejoice!
  Morning stillness, to be blessedly alone,
  Blessedly alone with God!

  Every sorrow still conceals itself
And every pain, as if they slumbered
Forever here,
As upon the eternal morning,
And as if they were never to return, never.
  Thus between night and day,
  How heart and soul may rejoice!
  Morning stillness, to be blessedly alone,
  Blessedly alone with God!

  You brisk, joyful morning wind,
Good that I find you awake already!
Come, be my travelling companion!
  It is not good to wander alone,
One can rejoice much better as a twosome!
  As a twosome, as a twosome,
Hurray! how brightly it resounds!

  You brisk, joyful morning wind,
Come along, you teasing child of spring,
Through field and wood and meadows!
  How can a person bear all the joy alone?
It would surely become a heavy pain to him!
  As a twosome, as a twosome,
Come, let us look upon springtime!

  You brisk, joyful morning wind,
Come along and quickly invite as well
The sweet scents to come on the journey!
  Ah, don't you hear the cuckoo call,
We must immediately join in,
  As a twosome, as a twosome,
So that all the chasms echo!

  May has arrived, May has arrived,
  More beautiful than I have ever seen it!
No little twig that has not started blooming,
No spot of earth that does not shimmer greenly,
No little flower that does not sweetly emit scent
And beckon joyfully:  God greet you! God greet you!

  May has arrived, May has arrived,
  More beautiful than I have ever seen it!
No little breeze that does not bring a breath of spice,
No birdlet that does not soar upward
And sing through lea and forest and field:
Welcome, God's beautiful world!

  May has arrived, May has arrived,
  More beautiful than I have ever seen it!
No cloudlet that does not beautifully
Accent the blue of the heavenly meadow,
No sunbeam that does not amiably
Call new life forth into the light!

  May has arrived, May has arrived,
  More beautiful than I have ever seen it!
How my heart grows [wide, wide]1
At all the splendour and glory!
Only happiness and [joy]2 everywhere,
Only scent and radiance and the sound of rejoicing!

  You splendid, bright blossoming tree,
Yes, if I could interpret your dream,
If I could understand the soughing of your branches,
[Could understand] what sweet words they are exchanging,
If I could understand what the violets 
Confess to each other secretly,
  Then I could sing it and utter it fully
  How rich, oh springtime, and how beautiful is your radiance!

  Forest birdlet, that which you sing beautifully,
[Ye]1 west winds, that which you wish to whisper,
If I could understand it, and, you bright brooklet,
That which your waves prattle merrily,
If it could be carried to me through the air
What the sun and the blue of heaven ask each other,
  Then I could sing it and utter it fully
  How rich, oh springtime, and how beautiful is your radiance!

  And if I could capture it in a song,
That which moves through my deepest heart,
If only my dream, my happiness, and my love
Did not remain buried in there,
If everything moved in the urgency of rejoicing
Through the world with rich resounding,
  Then I could sing it and utter it fully,
  How rich, oh springtime, and how beautiful is your radiance!

    Oh forest, oh forest,
How eternally beautiful you are!
Is it your greenery?
Is it your secret darkness?
Your colourful blooming?
The mad sparkling of the sun?
  That makes me ever anew and always
  Stand rapt in your magic, drunk with bliss.
    Who may tell,
    Who ever probe it?
  I must only always sing:
    Oh forest, oh forest,
How eternally beautiful you are!

    Oh forest, oh forest,
How eternally beautiful you are!
Is it your scents?
Is it the surging of your bushes?
The cool air,
Your high cathedrals?
  That again and again I am drawn
  Down to you, beloved.
    Who may tell,
    Who may ever probe it?
  I must only always sing:
    Oh forest, oh forest,
How eternally beautiful you are!

    Oh forest, oh forest,
How eternally beautiful you are!
Is it your singing?
Is it the whirling of your firs?
Your anxious lamentation?
The roaring of the old oaks?
  That homesickness immediately assails me,
  When I, oh lovely one, must leave you.
    Who may tell,
    Who ever probe it?
  I must only always sing:
    Oh forest, oh forest,
How eternally beautiful you are!

    Oh forest, oh forest,
How eternally beautiful you are!
Is it majesty?
Is it homely, comforting being
That wafts through you,
That makes you so exquisite?
  That the singer’s songs must again and again
  Praise you rejoicingly!
    Who may tell,
    Who ever probe it?
  I must only always sing:
    Oh forest, oh forest,
How eternally beautiful you are!

The grapevines and linden trees are blossoming,
The scented roses as well,
And in all directions they are merrily greeting
Each other intimately.

How salutary it must be to wander
And to sing in such air,
When valley and heights come
Together in sweet scent!

And that the grapevines and linden trees
And roses early and late
May find each other again,
I know good counsel for that:

Only diligently take to your spirit
The most fiery wine,
In it there shall be every blossom,
Vividly to be savoured!

For of that [wine] we wish to drink,
Ye brethren, when it storms and snows:
Hurray! immediately the loveliest
Summertime shall beckon to us!

At the edge of the forest stands a fir tree
With merrily swaying crown;
Two birds - whoosh! swing themselves up 
To the very highest peak,
And gaze down into the forest
And sing so loudly and sing so well,
  I well know what pleases you two so much,
  For there is nothing more beautiful in God’s world,
    As the wood, as the wood,
In the red, golden evening glow!

Oh, you birdlets, could I gaze down
With you upon all the shimmer,
Upon the sparkling green, upon the trembling light,
Upon the teasingly beautiful flickering!
And could I, like you, suddenly gaze
Into the splendour, oh how lovely that would be!
  For nothing pleases me and you so well,
  And there is nothing more beautiful in God’s world,
    As the wood, as the wood,
In the red, golden evening glow!

And when the last sunbeam
Has departed late from the wood,
And quiet night descends
With its blessed peace,
Then the birdlets fly into their nest,
And still in dreams it sounds delicately:
  There are many beautiful things that please us,
  But there is nothing more beautiful in God’s world,
    As the wood, as the wood,
In the red, golden evening glow!

  On one side a valley, yonder a valley,
Both of them dripping with blessings!
Oh what joy, amid the wafting scents,
To gaze into the depths from high upon the mountain!

  On one side so green, yonder so green
The meadows and fields and forests and rock faces!
My eyes, truly you shall soon grow weary
To gaze, so intoxicated [with joy], hither and yon!

  On one side so delicately, yonder so delicately,
Everything is spun about by the evening radiance,
And my own face is rosily
Transfigured by the golden light!

  On one side a tolling, yonder a tolling,
First dispersed by the wind like the scents,
Until it penetrates up to my ears
[And] peacefully sounds in concord in my heart.

  On one side now mildly, yonder now mildly
Everything is illuminated by the full moon's image!
Blessed heart, now carry to the valley
All the bliss, [and] particularly the peace!