Is it better, to not have owned,

Ists besser, nicht besessen haben	Is it better, to not have owned,

Ists besser, nicht besessen haben,	Is it better, to not have owned,
Als zu verlieren das Besessne?	than to have lost that which you possessed?
Im Grunde gleich sind alle Gaben,	Essentially the same are all gifts
Vom Himmel Menschen zugemessne.	that people are given from heaven.
Es fehlt uns doch, was wir nicht wissen;	We lack what we do not know;
Wir haben noch, was wir vermissen.	we still have what we miss.
Und endlich ruht in Finsternissen,	And finally they lie in the darkness,
Ob nie gehabt und ob entrissen,	whether never had, or whether snatched away,
Gleich Ungekanntem das Vergessne.	it's the same: they are forgotten unknowns.