Was it not yesterday
the light daughter of the forest celebrated her wedding
and everybody was so happy?
She was the light bird and the bright spring,
she was the hidden road and the laughing bush,
she was the intoxicating, fearless summer night.
She was immodest, laughed so overstrung,
for she was the light daughter of the forest;
she had become the instrument of the cuckoo
and went playing from lake to lake.
When the light daughter of the forest celebrated her wedding
nobody was unhappy on Earth:
the light daughter of the forest knows no longing,
she is blond and realizes all dreams,
she is pale and awakens everybody’s lust.
When the light daughter of the forest celebrated her wedding
the conifers stood joyful on the hill
and the firs stood proud on the steep brink
and the juniper bushes stood happy on the sunny slope,
and all the little flowers wore white collars.
Then, the forests let the seeds fall in humans’ hearts,
the glittering lakes floated in their eyes
and the white butterflies flitted endlessly past.