Max Kalbeck:

Letztes Glück

Leblos gleitet Blatt um Blatt
Still und traurig von den Bäumen;
Seines Hoffens nimmer satt,
Lebt das Herz in Frühlingsträumen.

Noch verweilt ein Sonnenblick
Bei den späten Hagerosen,
Wie bei einem letzten Glück,
Einem süßen, hoffnungslosen.

Max Kalbeck:

Last Bliss

Void of life slides leaf by leaf
from the silent branches sadly,
but the heart wants hope, not grief,
and it dreams of springtime gladly.

Yet a ray of sunshine's kiss
touches roses ere eloping;
tender, like a final bliss:
full of sweetness, past of hoping.

---

I have used the title given by Johannes Brahms to his op. 104, # 3, from around 1888. An excellent translation has been provided by Emily Ezust.

I am not sure what plant species Kalbeck had in mind when he wrote "Hagerosen". Did he mean "Hagebutten" (rose hips), or did he just want to fit the more poetic "...rosen" into his rhyme-and-rhythm scheme?

In any case, the image used here is very popular. See, for instance, the fall poems by Flaischlen, Gerok and Rückert on this website.