Night falls; with gentle breezes it settles
Down over the tired mortals.
Soft sleep, death's brother, beckons
And in a friendly way lays them down in their daily graves.
Now the only things that are awake on the surface of the earth (robbed of its light)
Are perhaps malice and pain;
And now, since I cannot be disturbed by anything,
Let your wounds bleed, poor heart!

Sink down into the depths of your distress,
And if perhaps in your shredded breast
There are long-repressed, half-forgotten sorrows asleep there,
Then wake them up with cruel, sweet delight!
Take into consideration all the lost blessings,
Count all the flowers in paradise,
Which, in the golden times of your youth,
The strong hand of fate plucked from you!

You have loved, you have experienced a happiness
Before which every earthly delight fades into insignificance,
You found a heart that understood you,
Your boldest hopes reached their beautiful destination.
But then a terrifying decree struck you down
And you fell from your celestial heights and your silent happiness,
The all too beautiful vision returned
To the better world from which it had come.

All of the sweet ties have now been torn apart;
No heart beats for me any longer in the whole world!
What is there in this shadowy land that can
Continue to hold me in this dead solitude?
There is just a single ray of light that I can see shining in the distance;
My sacred duty appears in the divine glow:
And if the strength of my exhausted spirit fades
Then the courage that she poured into me should not do so.