It is indeed true that God's angels weep
When lovers separate.
How am I going to be able to live,
Beloved, without you?
All joys have died,
I shall live from now on for suffering, 
And never, Wilhelm, never
Will Luisa forget you!

How could I forget you?
To forget your gaze,
Full of fiery delight,
Full of gentle pleading towards me?
In the darkness of my misery
It shone on me, like the radiance of stars,
Beloved, never, never
Will Luisa forget you.

How could I forget you?
The gleam of your cheeks
Made red by longing
Made wet by your ardour for me!
So wet with hot tears,
So hot with anxious yearning -
Beloved, never, never
Will Luisa forget you.

How could I forget you?
To forget here and there
A single one of the thousand words
You have said to me?
They are echoing around me
As if in a hall in Paradise.
Beloved, never, never
Will Luisa forget you!

How could I forget you?
Could I at any time forget the sound
Of so many songs of woe
Sung as laments because of me?
Oh, they still resound forever and ever
In my ears, and they are being sung
In my heart. Never
Will Luisa forget you!

How could I forget you?
To forget your letters
Full of genuine, pure love
And oh, full of grief for me!
I shall treasure them forever
And place them in my tomb.
Beloved, never, never,
Will Luisa forget you!

How could I forget you?
Forget your kisses?
Like sudden sheets of lightning
They blazed through me!
They are glowing on my lips,
They are bubbling away in my veins!
Beloved, never, never,
Will Luisa forget you!

How could I forget you?
Could I forget each hour
When I, embraced by you,
Cuddled up to you so tightly,
When I lay on your breast
Longing to be totally yours?
Beloved, never, never,
Will Luisa forget you!

How could I forget you?
To forget those questions
Which on more beautiful days you
Used to ask me so often!
Luisa, are you mine?"
Yes, young one, yes, yours
I am your for ever! - never
Will Luisa forget you!

How could I forget you?
To forget those moments of bliss
Which, oh so quickly fled by
Though my heart was full of you.
So anxious, so sweet, so crazy,
So delirious and so confused
As I felt them surge through me - never
Will Luisa forget you!

How could I forget you?
To forget those pains
Which in my heart
I felt because of you, because of you!
What I have suffered for you,
What I have fought for for your sake,
Should I forget it? Never
Will Luisa forget you!

I cannot forget you.
With each step I take,
In the middle of my life,
Your image hovers around me!
It shimmers on my canvas,
It flickers on my curtain.
Beloved, never, never
Will Luisa forget you!

I cannot forget you.
With each golden morning
My tender concern awakes,
My sighs, oh, for you!
"Where are you now, you only one?
What are you thinking now, you who are mine?
Are you also thinking of Luisa?
Luisa is thinking of you!"

I cannot forget you.
At night on my bed
I am often reminded of you, as if
My arms were embracing you.
The voice of the night watchman wakes me up.
A sudden disturbance terrifies me.
I am alone in the darkness,
And I weep quietly because of you.

I cannot forget you.
No declarations of devotion by strangers,
No adoration by people calling themselves my slave
Will take your place, oh friend!
Luisa loves only one person,
She can only think about one person,
There is only one person she can never forget,
Never forget you!

Luisa loves only one person.
Fops' flatteries are scorned,
Their sweet hypocrisies are mocked,
It is you, noble one, that she thinks about!
She thinks about the nobility of your spirit,
Your spotless love,
Your heart so pure, so upright - 
And she burns for you alone.

It is only for you that I may burn,
For you, for you alone that I feel.
For this fire to cool in me
Time and distance will not permit it.
From you, to cut myself off from you,
Neither joy nor sorrow will allow it,
Even the hand of death will not permit it,
Or even just forgetting you.

Even if you were false and faithless
Cuddling up to a stranger's breast,
Being rocked in a stranger's arms,
Forgetting God and your duty
Burning in alien flames,
If you even misjudged Luisa
Or even forgot her - 
Oh I! I would not forget you.

Despised and forgotten,
Lost and abandoned,
I could still not hate you.
I would grieve quietly
Until death offered me solace.
Should the grave embrace me - 
But also in the grave, in heaven,
Beloved, I would love you.

In the gentle gaze of an angel
I would shimmer around your bed
And tenderly whimper around you.
"I am Luisa, it is I!
Luisa can not hate you!
Luisa will not leave you!
Let Luisa come to bless you,
And she loves you even up in the world beyond!"