Everything for love

What is it, that fills the soul?

Ah, love fills it, love!

It is filled not by gold, nor its worth,

not by what the bleak world desires:

it is filled only with love!

What is it that stills our yearnings?

Ah, love stills them, love!

They are stilled not by titles, status or rank,

and not by the ringing bells of renown;

they are stilled only by love, love!

What is it that the heart desires?

It desires love!

It does not yearn for sudden kisses

nor the enjoyment of lust;

it yearns only for love!

I would gladly give all that I have and am,

gladly give it all for love:

the colorful lather of riches,

the intoxication of lust, the dream of renown;

for without love, what good do they do me?

Much sweeter is it, small and poor,

to lie against a faithful bosom

than dissipate the days unloved and and loveless,

and pass the nights in the lap

of lust!

O dear sweetheart, love me

as truly as I love you!

Let peace, renown, and fortune disappear -

take everything, Fate;

Ellwina's love is enough for me.

And if it were my lot to be separated from you,

I would still trust in life;

for if I knew you loved me,

and knew you to remain mine,

who could pity me?

And if I were a slave

in a friendless wilderness,

and were still yours, and only yours,

slavery would be sweet to me,

the wilderness a paradise.

And if the darkness of death veiled

you, sun of my life,

or if I died, thought of only by you,

mourned and wept for only by you,

then I would die in bliss.

Far better it is to die young, strong and bold,

to die in the arms of one's beloved,

than, unloved and loveless,

in the lap of dull, languid joys,

to grow old and deteriorate!