Under the Linden-tree - Walter von der Vogelweide

Under the linden-tree
Upon the heath,
There I lay with him.—Alas,
When you go there, you’ll see
The flowers beneath
Crushed and trodden with the grass.
By the forest in the dale,
Tandarady!
Sweetly sang the nightingale.

I strolled unto the green:
My lover true
Was waiting there impatiently.
Such welcome ne’er was seen—
Ah, if you knew!
My heart still throbs in ecstasy.
Kisses?—Thousands—more!—he took:
Tandarady!
See, how red my lips now look!

How he caressed me there,
If anyone
Should know: alas, how I should blush!
And all our pastime fair!
Ah, none, none, none
Shall know, but he and I—hush, hush!—
And the birdie on the tree
Tandarady!
May that ever silent be!

---

Walter von der Vogelweide (1170 – 1228) Germany
Translated by Margarete Münsterberg

Source: A Harvest of German Verse, edited and translated by Margarete Münsterberg, D. Appleton and Co., 1916