O Forest! O Forest! Dear Forest!
There is happiness in the forest,
There is rapture in the lonesome valley,
There is unity, which none interferes,
In the dead night, strange shrilling sounds roar;
I love not man the less, but
Nature the more.
O Forest! O Forest! Dear Forest!
These interviews from which
I build my permanent existence;
To mingle with the universe,
And feel
What I can ne'er expose,
Yet cannot all conceal.
O Forest! O Forest! Dear Forest!
There is yet a place of shelter,
Where the enemy cannot come,
Where the battle trumpet ne'er
Sounded or the drum.
Twenty thousand battalions
Sweep through in vain.
O Forest! O Forest! Dear Forest!
Man marks the earth with ruin,
His control stops at the outskirts;
There are gallant soldiers,
There are potential natural weapons
Of war,
There is tranquillity and felicity.
O Forest! O Forest! Dear Forest!
Hark, O Forest! I am the forest,
My realm is full of rich resources
Enemies ever try in vain to capture;
My defence forces are genuine.
The lofty trees point vertically
Towards the lovely blue sky.
O Forest! O Forest! Dear Forest!
My babies fall to the ground as they are old;
New babies take their places;
My babies are full of rapture.
In my lonesome world,
Hark! Sweet songs pierce the air,
Beasts and birds make my world lovely.
O Forest! O Forest! Dear Forest!
Hark! I am the forest;
There are wooden-built cities,
The seasons determine my existence's nature.
I am an isolated kingdom,
Man toils in my kingdom for wealth;
There is a rapture for man.
O Forest! O Forest! Dear Forest!
O Forest! I conceal my identity,
To mingle with the universe;
Man destroys me to build great cities,
My vast realm man cannot destroy.
The armaments which thunder-strike
My city walls, no effect have they on me.
O Forest! O Forest! Dear Forest!
Birds and beasts, merry in my realm,
My realm is always full of joy;
Dear Forest, the kingdom rare to find,
The storm cannot destroy my realm,
I have strong resistance against destruction,
O Forest! The realm rare to find.