Oh sweet happiness of first love,
In the blossom-filled May of life.
When hearts still blissfully believe
That love lasts forever.

Oh sweet hoping, oh sweet yearning,
When a single glance still suffices
As a foundation for life plans 
And often for all the happiness on earth.

When love believes that it is impossible
To live upon the great earth
Without life's barque being shattered,
If you have not become mine, I become yours.

And yet how little came true
Of all the dreams sweet and lovely? --
Torn wreaths, wilted flowers,
They whirl away in the blowing of the storm.

And yet they are sweet dreams
That the weary old man once rhapsodized,
It was the time of rosy youth,
When love gave and took the prize.

An the memory shall remain to him:
The bright star of first love.
Even if life took away the blossoms,
The dream was sweet, though it is far in the past.