You are looking out from behind the veil of mist
So pale and tired, o sun!
The hoarse chorus of the crickets is buzzing
To accompany my swan song.

Departing nature is cooing
Such a sad farewell;
The bushes, forest and fields are standing there
So inconsolable and so terrifying.

The grove of alders finds itself stripped of its leaves,
The grey garden has lost its leaves,
Where, in the moonshine, he and I
Anxiously used to wait for each other;

Where, in shafts of moonlight, he and I
Would sit under the canopy of the lime tree,
And on the soft seat of the lawn
We forgot the bleak world.

Where I, leaning on his breast
Used to nod off into sweet dreams,
And beautiful illusions and the delight of Eden
Would be summoned up as I dreamt.

And if a glow of sunrise shimmered
Through the secluded lime trees,
I would set about making the most beautiful garland of roses
So that I could wrap it around his hat.

But from now on there will be no garlands
Wrapped around you by your girl, friend.
For our flowers have withered,
Our lime trees have shed their foliage.

You roses, which the rough easterly wind
Plucked while you were still buds;
You carnations, which an early frost
Snapped off while still half closed;

Is your fate not also my fate?
Are you not what I am going to be?
Did I not spring, like you, from the womb
Of mother Earth?

Did not my stem, so youthful,
Spring up so thin?
Didn't the petals of my bud
Burst out so urgently?

Is not the blue light of my eyes woken up,
The roses of my cheeks,
The freshness of my lips, are these not awakened
By desire for that young man?

Oh, lament to your sisters, lament
You roses and you carnations!
How quickly my splendour has gone
And my blossoms wither!

All my green leaves are scattered,
My thin stem has snapped,
My dust is embedded in that dust,
My spirit has matured and become an angel!

The traveller who once saw me fully adorned,
Shimmering in my beauty,
He once beheld me thus but now searches for me
And never, never will he see me!

The familiar one comes, he whom I
Chose to have as my only one . . .
Oh fly away, beloved, fly away from here!
Your girl is asleep in the grave.

Oh, do not mourn, dear one, do not mourn!
The dark of the grave will disappear
And heavenly and undying light
Will shine on those who overcome.

Triumph! After the dusk of autumn
The gentle glow of spring follows,
Separation is followed by reunion,
Reunion for ever!