Sweet May it is come, and the trees are in bloom--
Who wills may sit listless with sorrow at home!
As the clouds go a-roving up there in the sky,
So away for a life of adventure am I!

Kind father, dear mother, God be with you now!
Who knows what my fortune is waiting to show?
There is many a road that I never have gone,
There is many a wine that I never have known.

Then up with the sun, and away where it leads,
High over the mountains and down through the meads!
The brooks they are singing, the trees hear the call;
My heart's like a lark and sings out with them all.

And at night, when I come to a cozy old nest,
'Mine host, now a bottle--and make it your best!
And you, merry fiddler, tune up for a song,
A song of my sweetheart--I'll help it along!'

If I come to no inn, then my slumber I'll snatch
'Neath the kindly blue sky, with the stars to keep watch.
The trees with their rustling will lull me to sleep;
Dawn's kisses will wake me, and up I shall leap.

Then ho! for the road, and the life that I love,
And God's pure air to cool your hot brow as you rove.
The heart sings for joy in the sun's merry beams--
All, wherefore so lovely, wide world of my dreams?