Heiss mich nicht reden
Don't ask me to talk, but to be still

Lieder der Mignon Songs for Mignon

Goethe

Don’t ask me to talk, but to be still,
For I am bound to secrecy.
I would share my inner being with you,
But fate decrees that will not be.

At the appointed time the sun
Drives out dark night and makes it yield to day.
The hardest rock does not withhold the breast
From Earth, but lets spring waters play.

We all seek peace within a friend’s embrace,
There to express our misery.
My lips, though, by an oath are sealed
From which a god alone can set me free.