Blick zurück [English translation]

I went through life a long time,

Tediously, gropingly, as if blind,

And only rarely did I understand,

The way things really are.

If I see clearer today,

It's partly because of you.

But how can it be that now

I can hardly recognize you?

Often in my life I've

awkwardly torn something delicate,

But just as often as anyone else

I've hurt myself in the process

It's not so long ago,

That I learned feeling with you1

And I'd gladly know why

Don't I feel you any more now?

Often in my life,

I've stumbled, faltered

Had far too many goals, seldom had I reached them

To stand firm, to walk tall

I first learned to this with you.

How is it that, in the process,

I've gone so far away from you?

How is it that, in the process,

I've gone so far away from you?

1. translated "mit dir fühlen lernte" as literally as possible, I'm not if I really understand the meaning.