The Linden Tree

Wilhelm Müller
Traduction: Walter A. Aue
Found in:
http://myweb.dal.ca/waue/Trans/Mueller-Lindenbaum.html

At wellside, past the ramparts,
There stands a linden tree.
While sleeping in its shadow,
Sweet dreams it sent to me.

And in its bark I chiseled
My messages of love:
My pleasures and my sorrows
Were welcomed from above.

Today I had to pass it,
Well in the depth of night-
And still, in all the darkness,
My eyes closed to its sight.

Its branches bent and rustled,
As if they called to me:
Come here, come here, companion,
Your haven I shall be!

The icy winds were blowing,
Straight in my face they ground.
The hat tore off my forehead.
I did not turn around.

Away I walked for hours
Whence stands the linden tree,
And still I hear it whisp'ring:
You'll find your peace with me!

(Original in German: Der Lindenbaum; in Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten, 1823)