I have a red-hot knife

I have a red-hot knife,

a knife in my breast.

O woe! It cuts so deeply

into every joy and delight.

Alas, what an evil guest it is!

Never does it rest or relax,

not by day or by night, when I would sleep.

O woe!

When I gaze up into the sky

I see two blue eyes there.

O woe! When I walk in the yellow field,

I see from afar her blond hair

waving in the wind.

O woe!

When I start from a dream

and hear the tinkle of her silvery laugh,

O woe!

Would that I lay on my black bier -

Would that I could never again open my eyes!