Must always fasten my hair 'neath my cap

Must always fasten my hair 'neath my cap,

dare never tie a ribbon therein;

the shop smells foul -

oh to be free like the bird!

My mother was a stately lady;

come, little mirror, and let me see.

At my christening they called me "Dove",

she would rather fly free.

The bells are ringing for matins,

now Dyveke's day will be so long;

and if I wish to leave the town with mother,

the irongrey mountains bar our path.

But out in the garden grow herbs and flowers,

there my heart dreams among onions and bulbs;

spicily fragrant the delightful summer,

and the heart throbs like a cuckoo.

It beats against my hand, and drums under the skin,

it promises a long life for me.

Greetings, bird, among herbs and flowers,

greetings, warbling cuckoo!