1. When it reached me, though home was far,
A letter with the breath of love sighing,

2. More gentle than a chain it was, as though
It was made of the soul of youth assembling.

3. It healed the burning of my torment, stilled the anguish,
Nearly making my liver split asunder.

4. In it vied a beholder and fingers,
And a prudent heart and hearing concealed.

5. I kissed it a thousand thousand times with deference,
And did not deem it right to put my head on it.

6. And I got from the days what I had hoped for,
And said to my fate: “However you wish, so proceed!”