The Death Minstrel

Come thou, thou last one, whom I recognize
Unbearable pain throughout this body’s fabric:
As I in my spirit burned, see, I now burn in thee:
The wood that long resisted the advancing flames
Which thou kept flaring, I now am nourishing and burn in thee
My gentle and mild being through thy ruthless fury
Has turned into a raging hell that is not from here
Quite pure, quite free of future planning, I mounted
The tangled funeral pyre built for my suffering
So sure of nothing more to buy for future needs
While in my heart the stored reserved kept silent
Is it still I, who there past all recognition burn?
Memories I do not seize and bring inside
O life! O living! O to be outside!
And I in flames. And no one here who knows me …