Nearness of the Beloved One*

I think of you,

    when I see the sun's shimmer

Gleaming from the sea.

I think of you,

    when the moon's glimmer

Is reflected in the springs.

             

I see you,

    when on the distant road

The dust rises,

In deep night,

    when on the narrow bridge

The traveler trembles.

             

I hear you,

    when with a dull roar

The wave surges.

In the quiet grove I often go to listen

When all is silent.

             

I am with you,

    however far away you may be,

You are next to me!

The sun is setting,

    soon the stars will shine upon me. 

If only you were here!

*Goethe‘s “Nähe des Geliebten”,  translation by Hyde Flippo