Parting from the lake

Farewell, you dear hills,

Farewell, you quiet shore,

Where on the wings of joy

Time passed blissfully for me!

Farewell, you quiet waves,

Farewell, you silent floodtide,

Through which I traveled with delight

And with the burning glow of love!

As once from my mother's heart

Time saw me depart,

Time with quiet pain

Sees me depart from here today!

It is the same longing

That constricts my breast,

They are the same tears

That melancholy sheds here.

I would tarry so gladly

In the quiet beech grove,

And share with the singers birds

The joy and sorrow of my heart!

I would like to rock upon the waves,

I would like to wander through the meadow,

I would like to draw water from the springs

At Nature's bosom!

I would like to tell the flowers

How hard parting is,

I would like to lament to the mountains

How binding is a farewell,

But fortifying trust

Gives me sweet hope

That I shall someday see you again,

You beloved places here!

To be sure, I shall no longer find her --

She who was precious to me,

And many a thing shall have disappeared

That now gave me such pleasure!

Yet if I return to you,

Lost joy shall be returned to me,

In the urgency of tender songs,

By remembrance! --