Maybe the words will abandon me,
Or maybe all of you will abandon me,
Or only the years will leave me
At some wave's mercy,
At some wave's mercy...
While all of this comes to me,
Which must come to me by force,
Maybe I will still have time
To steal it all from life
And thus, fill my luggage.
While all of this comes to me...
Life...! Oh, life...!
Sometimes, I can still see,
I can still see, sometimes,
My childhood eyes, trying to find,
Beyond the window's iced-over glass,
A little colour in the Northerly winds.
The voices of sensible people have told me
That driving myself to exhaustion is pointless;
But a dream can never make me tired
And, ins spite of my grown beard,
I still have a child's eyes.
Sometimes, I can still see...
Life...! Oh, life...!
If I grow old within these words,
If I grow old within these words
I beg you all to close the door
And run away from the longing
Of a voice that is now fading!
For I shall not be saddened by it,
For I will not be saddened by it
And I will go from tree branch to tree branch
So I can hear what is being sung
By the birdlings throughout my landscape.
For I shall not be saddened by it...
Life...! Oh, life...!
If death comes to find me,
If death comes to find me
I give to it permission to enter my home,
But it should know, from this very moment,
That I will never be able to love it.
And if I must leave with it,
And if I must leave with it,
May what is left of me
(Whether it is maggots or ashes
Or a memory from my journey),
I want them to sing this omen...
Life...! Oh, life...!
Maybe the words will abandon me,
Or maybe all of you will abandon me,
Or only the years will leave me
At some wave's mercy,
At some wave's mercy...
While all of this comes to me...
Life...! Oh, life...!
While all of this comes to me...
Life...! Oh, life...!