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?
Friend, where-ever I turn,
Where-ever I cast my glance,
Your image is shining around me.
With drunken delight
I see it shining on me.
No never, Wilhelm, never
Will Luisa forget you.

How could I forget you?
Made red by longing,
How your cheeks burned,
Made wet by your ardour for me!
In the reflection of yours
How much my own lit up!
No never, Wilhelm, never
Will Luisa forget you.

How could I forget you?
To forget how shyness
Gave itself away with looks and nods and speech and
Love sweetly crept up on me.
Your tender pleading for love,
My stammering confession,
Should I forget it? Never
Will Luisa forget you.

How could I forget you?
To forget at any time the notes
With which I was lifted to the stars
You lifted me up to the stars, me.
Oh, they still resound unceasingly
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 pure tender love
And full of bitter grief for me!
I shall hold on to them carefully
And preserve them for my tomb.
Beloved, never, never,
Will Luisa forget you.

How could I forget you?
To forget each hour
When I, embraced by you,
Interwoven with you most intimately,
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 at any time the questions
Which on more beautiful days you
Used to ask ceaselessly: "Tell me,
Luisa, are you mine?"
Yes, devoted one, yes, yours
I am your for ever - never
Will Luisa forget you.

How could I forget you?
To forget at any time the shudder
Of bliss and mourning,
Which with great power
Pulled me towards your breast
And then took me from your arms, being carried off
To higher spheres! - never
Will Luisa forget you.

How could I forget you?
To forget at any time the anxiety
With which, from golden vessels
I would drink love!
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
Your arms were embracing me.
The swinging of the pendulum wakes me up.
The night watchman´s horn frightens 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, oh Wilhelm, that she thinks about;
She thinks about the nobility of your spirit,
Your spotless love,
Your heart so true, 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 your oath and 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 give me its cold embrace - 
But also in the grave, in heaven,
O Wilhelm, 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,
Luisa has come to bless you,
And she loves you even up in the world beyond."