Forest Legend
Mahler, Gustav
There once was a haughty queen,
Lovely beyond compare:
No knight was worthy of her,
She hated them all.
O you, oh beautiful woman.
For whom shall your sweet body bloom?
In the wood grew a red flower,
Oh so beautiful, that the queen decreed,
Whichever knight found the flower,
He would win her hand in marriage!
Oh, you haughty yet lovely queen!
When shall your proud soul break?
Two brothers came upon the woods,
Intent on seeking the flower:
One was a comely and gentle soul,
The other couldn't help but swear!
O knight, my horrible knight,
O hold back your awful curses!
After walking together for a little while,
They went their separate ways:
They searched in haste
Through woods and heaths.
My dear knights, rushing headlong,
Who will find the flower?
The younger trekked through woods and fields,
But did not have far to go:
Before long, he saw that in the distance by the meadow,
There stood the red flower.
He tucked the flower inside his hat,
And then stretched himself out for a rest.
The other spied him, with wild urgency,
In vain had he sought the flower in the heath,
And when the evening had fallen at last,
He came to the green pasture!
O woe, when he found his sleeping brother,
The flower in his hat, behind the green ribbon!
You wonderful nightingale,
And little bluebird behind the hedges,
Won't you with your sweet song
Awaken the poor knight?
You red flower behind the hat,
You glimmer and glisten like blood!
An eye beholds, with savage joy.
Its gleam has never lied:
A shining steel sword hangs at his side,
Which now he draws!
The elder laughs under the willow tree,
The younger smiles, as if dreaming.
You flowers, why are you so heavy from the dew?
It seems to me that those are tears!
You winds, why do you blow so coldly?
What do your whispers mean?
"In the wood, in a green moor,
There stood an old willow tree."