1. I heard a calling voice at dawn
Calling to mankind from the unseen

2. Arise, and take the cup of wishes before
Fate fills the cup of life with its hand

3. Do not preoccupy yourself with the past
Or with the future of life before its time

4. And make use of the present for its pleasures
For the nature of nights is not safety

5. Tomorrow is in the back of the unseen, and today is mine
And how much hope is disappointed in what is to come

6. I'm not so unaware as to see
The beauty of my life and not yearn

7. My heart has been narrowed by love of beauty
And my chest tightened by what cannot be said

8. Oh Lord, does this injustice please you
While water flows limpid before me?

9. It's fitter for this heart to throb
And burn in the embers of love

10. I've wasted the day that passed me
Without falling in love or passion

11. Dawn of gentle shade called at this dawn
Leave sleep and pluck the strings

12. For neither has sleep lengthened a lifetime
Nor has wakefulness shortened lives

13. How many nights followed days
And this cycle was long in the stars

14. So walk gently for this soil
Is from the eyes of maidens most limpid

15. Do not make the soul lonely with fearful doubt
And make use of the secure present

16. For alike in the earth lie departed
Tomorrow, yesterday and eons between

17. Quench your heart's flame with drops of contentment
For days are but like clouds

18. And our life a phantom, so take
Your share before the loss of youth