For if love fled, if love it was...
let love go and go with the grief,
and embrace life with a clear head and open arms,
and cry a little bit for what was...
For if love fled, if love it was...

Let love go and go with the grief...
Go to Nirvana or the Kingdom of Thule,
the smoke of opium and aroma of coffee,
and embrace life with a clear head and open arms!

And cry a little bit for what was...
for the pure love, for the beloved so good,
for the beloved so good, with her lily-white hands...
Oh how the heart deceives, love's not always like that!

English translation by Paul Archer