Gute Nacht
Good Night
Winterreise A Journey into Winter
Müller
I was a stranger when I came,
Am still a stranger as I go.
Carried here on the tide of May,
I gathered many a flower spray.
The girl she loved me, so she said,
Her mother hoped we might be wed.
But this drear world is not the same,
My path lies deep in snow.
I did not choose to travel
At this hour of day,
Alone and in the darkness
To find my solitary way.
The moonlight casts a shadow
That follows as a friend
Across the barren whiteness
Where animal tracks blend.
Why should I stay and languish
Only to be cast out?
Let mad dogs howl in anguish
When they are left without!
For Love loves ever moving on,
That was the Lord’s design.
Now to another you have gone,
So, Good Night, dearest mine.
I’ll not disturb your dreaming,
For you must have your rest;
You shall not hear the creaking floor
As I gently close the door,
But in the morning you will find
That I have held you in my mind,
For as I pass the gate, I’ll write,
In the snow, I’ll write: Good Night.
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