Beautiful is the forest when the day declines,
when fine mist rises up from the mossy ground.
And little birds sing gently as an escort of rest -
then it defends my breast against bad heaviness.
But in the upper part of the forest I already can see,
beloved time of dusk – you have to go.
Have to already give way to the cold moonlight,
which soon will fracture eerily against the tree tops...
What rustles there behind the shrub?
What stirs about in the wood constantly?
Who howls in the far unceasingly?
What did just move there?
It's just my mind that wanted to play a trick on me,
'cause nothing's here – only night, only night, only night!
My heart beats wildly with the shock which now receded
but what was there? Something moved there again!
May it be the devil himself who now comes to get me from this dark place?
Whoever it is – begone fiend! Begone!
Away, just away, just away from here, I'm frightened like a child!
But every tree seems the same – it's a labyrinth.
In every corner a scornful laughter resounds
and every look brings me new horror.
Silence, yes silence – fallen silent and died away
is the rustling, the whispering, no sound rings out anymore. But where am I? What do I do -
here, deep in the woods?
Cogitating about the morning, oh if it came soon.
Gone astray and forgotten – snatched away from the dear ones, lonely, lost – my will... worn out...
But, what's that gleaming in the unknown?
A sparkling breaks through the branches.
The clearing,
the clearing not far!
Now I see it,
yes I see it and it makes
my heart abloom!
What a celebration of light! What a glowing!
One more look back -
hardly trusting my eyes
'cause as soon as I could see it
the horror was gone -
only peace in the woods.