Sommerlied [English translation]

I lay down in front of your door.

I heard you sigh, heard you cry out,

"And after the thunderstorm,

Why did you fall asleep again?

Three roses on that branch in the garden

Will bloom in blood on your forehead.1

It will do you no good to keep pursuing me, the waiting

Poisons my spirit."

But the summer goes by, goes by,

Goes by, goes by.

Goes by, goes by, goes by.

When the time comes to embrace the past,

My songs seem quite appropriate.

You and your white sister

Follow that flock of swans.

And the illusion of larks

Near the sun over the fields,

Must I unmask them? Fairy tales,

That's what this threatened world needs.

But the summer goes by, goes by,

Goes by, goes by.

Goes by, goes by, goes by.

Oh, the fairy tales, oh, the roses,

That dawn scatters,

Your kisses, your roses.

These things, too, surely have their time [and place].2

The poppy among the ears of corn

Does not at all survive the scythe,

And the charm of life is gone

When the snow geese return.

But the summer goes by, goes by,

Goes by, goes by.

Goes by, goes by, goes by.

I count the days, count the hours

That the song of the cuckoo has stolen from you,

And I dress my wounds,

While waiting for the call of the trumpet.

When, during the storms of October,

I think of your summers,

Will hate build up in me,

Or will I rather cry for you?

But the summer goes by, goes by,

Goes by, goes by.

Goes by, goes by, goes by.

1. I have an intuition that there is some kind of symbolism in this but I can't quite manage to grasp it. Any insights are always welcome.2. It seems to me in English, we would add that bit about "and place" even though there's nothing like that in the French.