To the moon on an autumn night

Friendly is your face,

son

of the sky!

Gentle are your steps

through the wasteland of ether,

lovely night companion!

Your glow is gentle and refreshing,

like words of solace

from the lips of a friend

when some terrible woe

gnaws on the soul.

You see many tears,

and many smiles;

you hear the intimate whispers of lovers,

and light their silent way;

hope floats down on your rays

to the silent suffering one;

the forsaken one continues on his thorny way.

You see also my friends,

scattered in far lands:

you pour your light

also on those cheerful hills

where as a boy I often played and jumped,

and where, at your smile,

an unknown longing

gripped my young heart.

You gaze down also on those places

where my loved ones rest,

where the dew falls upon their graves

and the grass above them waves

in the evening breeze.

Yet your light does not penetrate

the dark chamber

where they rest from life's misery,

where soon I shall rest as well!

You shall go and then return;

you shall see many a smile yet;

but I will smile no more

and weep no more;

no one will think about me again

upon this fair earth.