Totally lost, totally absorbed
In contemplating you, beloved,
Quaking with delight, drunk with love,
My spirit leaps towards you.
I am unable to begin anything,
Nor can I think, write poetry or muse on anything.
There is nothing that can fill my heart,
Gracious one, other than your beauteous image.

Sweet, pure, spotless,
Noble, valuable, splendid,
Unadorned red rose,
Undamaged lily,
Graceful anemone,
Prize and crown of all beauty,
Do you also know, my lady,
How totally I belong to you?

Gracious one, to you I have surrendered
Soul and body and heart and mind.
Without you life would be death,
And with you death would be profit.
It is sweeter to be in your retinue
Than to wear a golden crown.
It is nobler to commit yourself to your service
Than to be the master of the whole world.

Friend, when I behold you
My soul becomes so clear;
When I press your hands,
A wonderful tremor goes through me.
A drinker high up on Olympus
Is not as refreshed by the beaker of nectar
Or the consumption of ambrosia
As I am by your chaste kiss.

Sweet shuddering trembles around me,
I feel a lack of strength and breath.
Joy shakes me, and sadness,
Uneasy shyness and burning desire,
When I am close to the sanctuary
Of your chalice, noble flowers,
Quivering nearby, the scent of carnations
Surrounds me, and a smell of ambergris.

Oh, if only I could cuddle up around you
One long summer's day,
Lie on your open breast
Listening to the beating of your heart!
Oh, if only I could twine myself around you
On the longest nights of winter,
Lulled into a silken dream,
On the swan-down of your breast.

Oh, if only I could offer my whole life,
Consecrating it only to you, Ellwina!
If only I were allowed to act, suffer, struggle
For you and with you alone!
Truly then existence would be a delight!
And if the sun of my life
Were to descend into darkness,
O, even death would be sweet to me then.

Should darkness envelop him
Whom Ellwina's eyes shine on?
Should I tremble before the urn
Which a tearful Ellwina surrounds with a wreath?
Should I not, you cool chamber,
Sleep in you without complaint!
Listen, Elwina, full of sadness
Is sighing: my darling, sleep well!

And how quickly will it not disappear
The short night of that particular sleep!
Listen, there is rejoicing: defeated!
Look, the eternal day has awoken!
Then you dear one, then you only one,
You will be mine completely and for ever!
Separation is a feature of time!
Eternity unites for ever!