An hour before daybreak

As I lay sleeping,

well an hour before daybreak,

by my window on the tree there sang

for me a little swallow; I could hardly hear it

an hour before daybreak.

"Listen well to what I say to you -

your sweetheart I denounce:

as I am singing this,

he is clasping his love in good repose,

an hour before daybreak."

O woe! say no more!

O silence! I want to hear no more!

Fly away, fly away from my tree!

Alas, love and fidelity are like a dream

an hour before daybreak!