[Freya.]
       1.
  Adieu, adieu, Madame Aunt,
She thinks I am lying in bed;
Adieu, adieu, Madame Aunt,
I loosen the chain of the boat.
 
       2.
I float away upon the Rhine,
My oar beats the river in my haste,
In the evening glow I create
Two little furrows with my oar.
 
       3.
  Whirling, the two furrows both search
Until they are united in a kiss,
Thus shall my lips, to my joy,
Be healed at his lips.
 
       4.
  The chamber is so dark,
My little bed is a fervent glowing,
Before my eyes there are colourful sparks,
I must flee the shadows.
 
       5.
  The coolness is so inviting,
My blouse becomes so confining;
When bathed in moonlight
My breast becomes filled with turbulent emotions.
 
       6.
  With my foot I test whether
The shining of the water be cool;
How sweetly in a gentle kiss
The waves move along in dances.
 
       7.
  I sink into the waters
Where dread penetrates into life
And, extinguished by the fires,
Refreshes its playful life.
 
       8.
  I hold fast to the boat,
Closely embraced by the waves,
They beguile me with the delusion
That you would catch me here.
 
       9.
  Through all my veins streams
The cooling like songs,
The passion of the wind scorns
The bold turbulence of the waters.
 
       10.
  The little waves beat
Against the fullness of my breast,
To my breast they gently carry
Moonlight in a cool shroud.
 
       11.
  Newborn, I step from out
Their soft arms.
Oh woe, I have lost my engagement ring,
Woe to me, a poor wretch!--
 
       12.
  It is an evil omen,
Loss of my good reputation,
It also foretells corpses,
Thus says my old aunt!
 
       13.
  A ring is a ring,
There are many rings to be had;
I shall cease speaking of the ring[;]
I can purchase another one.
 
       14.
  The air is far too humid,
Rest is far too gentle,
Much thunder rolls
In the quiet, warm wind.
(Here Herrmann joins in and keeps up with the tones.)
 
       15.
  The river sparkles in stripes
And extinguishes itself in the darkness,
The frogs anxiously croak
With a bright sound into the darkness.
 
       16.
  I usually hear them with such pleasure,
During the day, quiet yearning;
They waken the stars,
[But] today everything makes me anxious.
 
       17.
  To you [goes] the longing of my heart,
Within you [rests] my entire life,
Tears drown in you,
Towards you the waves drift.
 
       18.
  The sun has gone behind the mountains,
The lightning flashes down,
The sky has descended,
Earth lifts its limbs.
 
       19.
  The water calls in its rushing,
The fire swells in the evening,
The woods listen with soughing,
The clouds pass by refreshingly.
 
       20.
  How brightly the lightning sparkles,
How angular is the path it takes,
It seeks and flees the wave,
It wishes to escape death.
 
      21.
  The rain comes in a gust of wind,
Silence has concealed it,
Rain shrouds the rocky cliffs,
I have lost my way.
 
       22.
  Oh had I but my ring again,
Trustingly I would look upon
The black feathers of the clouds
In all their scudding.
 
       23.
  The waves moil, loudly raging,
The waves lift me;
Death, drawing lots with life,
Has drawn the dying hour.
 
       24.
  Cold ardour boils,
Giants hover formlessly,
Seize me for the good man
Whom I directed hither.
 
       25.
  You must exchange the lots,
I would still like to live today,
To intoxicate myself with love:
Should all then be wafted away! --
 
       26.
  My prayer has died away,
Mary and the angels
Have been crowded out by the storm,
The blossom has been toppled from its stem.
 
       27.
  The lights upon the heavens
Have been extinguished in the storm,
The waves rise to the heavens,
No light gleams from the tower of the toll-house.
 
       28.
(Herrmann sings more softly and seems disconcerted.)
  My little craft is overpowered,
I shall, I must perish,
My strength completely consumed,
Battling in toil I must die.
 
       29.
  "It is turning, it is wavering in the eddying waters,
Take a life for my life,
Whirlpool, engulf my beloved,
He cannot live alone."
 
       30.
  Ah woe! My boat is sinking,
I am seized by two claws;
Do I dream, am I awake,
They let me drop gently?--
 
       31.
  What lifted me to the shore?
The waves threw me,
I twine myself tightly to the shore,
I leap about like the waves.
 
       32.
  The thunder has died away,
The lightning has struck itself out,
Nothing succeeded for it,
I sit by the tower undisturbed.
 
       33.
  Thither I called you,
My most beloved, to bliss;
I trod the steps of the grave,
They do not lead to joy.
 
       34.
  The turbulence of the water has vanished,
The waters have ceased roaring,
And moonlight has come in exchange
For the dark hours.
 
       35.
  Calmly he looked upon
The scudding of the dark clouds,
He whose trust is as strong as his
Would have remained free of guilt.
 
       36.
  And thousands of grasses burgeon
In alliance with his radiance,
Where recently the floodwaters gleamed
There it now sings from one mouth.
 
       37.
  I do not like to, I cannot hear,
I do not like to, I cannot see,
Let threatening, let imploring,
Let my speech waft away.
 
       38.
  The word dies in the sound of its utterance,
He is, he remains my own;
When we are anxious, the promise
Must fall silent in peace.
 
       39.
  I see a cross upon the heavens,
A black beam looms threateningly,
The colourful swarm of colours
Shines through the other beam.
 
       40.
  Shuddering through my limbs
This sign grasps me,
It pulls, it tears me down,
I do not wish to and cannot evade it.
 
       41.
  My eyes are held captive
By the red yellow-green stripes,
The colours reach into my heart
To suck all comfort from it.
 
       42.
  The colours have vanished,
The cross has escaped me,
Yet with deep wounds
It may threaten my sad heart.
 
       43.
  The arc of the sun delights
My inner spirit,
Yet, trained by the night,
The colourful flowering of the moon--
 
       44.
  Seems to disturb all rest:
Like boldly foolhardy flowers
Who do not hearken to the sunset,
And forget to close;--
 
       45.
  Who then in the cold winds,
Open to the stars, die,
Beckoning with colours in life,
Perish through the breath of death.
 
       46.
  He who pointed me toward the cross
Out of bright colour and darkness,
Has also rebuked me for my sins,
Chased away the darkness of the soul.
 
       47.
  I lied to my good aunt,
I crept out of her house,
Bent like a flower
Before the threats in the roaring of the wind.
 
       48.
  Oh secret cross and sign,
The crossroads divide evil [from good],
Fogs dissipate before the cross of the mountain,
Save me from my sins.
 
       49.
  No, nevermore shall I see
You here at the toll-tower,
Praise God that the lightning bolts
In the storm are over.
 
       50.
  Soon you shall be mine in Bingen,
In the old homeland,
Soon we shall be united
By the golden bonds of the marriage ring.
 
       51.
  I shall never see you again
Alone in the wild Rhine;
The worry presses me down
That you do not come from the Rhine.
 
       52.
  The Rhine rushes deeply like a premonition,
The cliffs push urgently toward me,
The woodland is whispering dully,
The riverbanks crowd together.
 
       53.
  I see the little boat,
It streaks straight through the waves,
And my eyes keep watch
In order to light the way for you.
(Herrmann is badly startled, he stops singing along, steps to the side, only Heymar notices.)
 
       54.
  Your eyes glow,
And your shirt shines redly,
The swaying cannot be good,
Turn your boat toward me.
 
       55.
  I cannot yet grasp you
And you are not happy today,
I cannot leave off being frightened,
My breast burns brightly.
 
       56.
  My heart stands in flames,
It tortures me with switches,
The floodwaters crash together,
My blood is boiling.
 
Herrmann. (to himself)
       56. [sic]
  Oh Heaven, could I dream thus,
I would never like to waken;
In the spaces of my conscience,
The enemy must awaken anew.
 
       57.
  Life must vanish
What I love must be wafted away,
My sins shall likely never
Be forgiven me.
 
Herrmann. (to himself)
       57.[sic]
  Oh God! at the wedding festival
You chastise me for my old sins,
I was at that fortress
In order to find Inkar’s son.
 
       58.
  Adieu, adieu, Madame Aunt,
May she forgive me for the lies,
Adieu, adieu, Madame Aunt,
I shall never lie again.
 
Herrmann. (to himself)
       58. [sic]
  Ah, if it were only roses
I could remain quiet,
The singer saw the roses,
I saw him drifting toward me.
 
       59.
  Adieu, adieu, my fair one,
I have tossed away your life,
In death, through death, trusted one,
You must forgive me for it.
 
Herrmann. (to himself)
       59.
  To avenge the guilt of the father
My arrow must stab him;
Must I break the rose
Because its thorns prick?
 
       60.
Heymar.
  Thus she sang,
And sank down to the earth,
Tightly embraced by her beloved,
Who also sang swan-songs.
 
Herrmann. (to himself.)
       60.
  Oh never shall she know
The old sin of the man;
She shall kiss me peacefully,
The song shall be dissipated by the winds.
 
(Herrmann seems to get a grip on himself and Freya indicates to him that he should start.)
Herrmann.
(Freya now sings along, the corresponding strophes are sung by Herrmann and Heymar at the same time.)
 
Der Rosenkönig.
       61.
  To you I came in the storm,
It seemed soft and gentle to me,
To you I came to the tower,
Love trusts the wind.
 
       62.
  For naught the high floodwaters,
For naught the cliffs on the shore,
For naught the fires of lightning,
For naught the caves of Bingen.
 
Heymar.
       63.
  Often the storms do not cause
The high pines to break and fall,
But from within the worms
Gnaw their limbs.
 
       64.
  Wild floodwaters that we saw
Foaming, frighten us;
But more treacherous are the floodwaters
That approach with quiet height.
 
Herrmann.
       65.
  I already saw you at the shore,
Toward you my oars beat rapidly,
Then an arrow from the shore
Paralysed my oar in the sea of life.
 
       66.
  The devil upon the watch,
Driven by his passion,
Waited long for roses,
He has ensnared me tightly!--
 
Heymar.
       67.
  The customs man upon the watchtower,
At the behest of a foreign people,
Has long been on the look-out for murder,
He has succeeded completely.
 
       68.
  Oh if you had already died
For Mainz in the dark war,
You would have garnered fame,
For naught you must perish.
 
Herrmann.
       69.
  My breath falters in my blood,
My heart is stilled within my bosom,
My spirit awakens to courage,
I die upon your bosom.
 
Heymar.
       70.
  Strength has vanished on him,
Her fair youth dies,
His wounds are too deep,
His spirit rises from his tongue.
 
Herrmann, Freya and Heymar.
(They pick roses and decorate Heymar’s lute with them.)
       71.
  Thus perished poor roses,
For love is terrible;
We break young roses,
And dedicate them to song.
 
       77.[sic]
  Now both roses pour out their scent,
And live for their song,
We think as the roses do,
May love therefore grant us recompense.