My life from Hell comes forth when I see you,
And loosed are all the bonds when I break through
From the depths of my torture. You set my soul free
When e'er you show your face to one like me.
I cannot live but when your face to me is known;
Whilst you are gone my soul in me doth groan
And yearns to see that face, those eyes so sweet.
You raise me from the depths of such defeat.
The stink of death 'round me till you are come,
Then my soul leaves the stench of that great slum.
You fill my life with sweet perfume of grace
And restore my soul with yours into its place.
I cannot but cry out for you to save me,
Only you can lift me up; only you can raise me
To new life, which supplies the beauty of your face,
Eternally, while you give your great love in different ways.
To you, Alicia, goes all the praise, which flows
From my lips, which never an end do they know.
For you, my love, will I give my own life
In the midst of love, peace, or even strife.
All else is dark till we are two as one
When the dream of marriage is fully come.
Then (and only then) will light shine through to me,
And we as lovers can at last together be free.
