Translation of "Scheidend" (Departing) - Mendelssohn and Voss

Last Wednesday I began to learn Mendelssohn's leider "Scheidend" Opus 9, No. 6.

I intend to sing the song at the next meeting of the Auckland Lieder Group, Sunday 24 June.

Here's the poem, by Johann Heinrich Voss (1751-1826)

Wie so gelinde die Fluth bewegt!
Wie sie so ruhig den Nachen trägt!
Fern liegt das Leben, das Jugendland!
Fern, fern liegt der Schmerz, der dort mich band,
Sanft tragt mich, Fluthen, zum fernen Land!

Droben der Sterne stiller Ort,
Unten der Strom fließt fort und fort.
Wohl warst du reich, mein Jugendland!
Wohl, wohl war es süß, was dort mich band,
Sanft tragt mich, Fluthen, zum fernen Land!

http://www.karadar.com/Lieder/mendelssohn_a.html#9%20no.6


I have had a little difficulty finding a translation of the poem, written by Johnann Heinrich Voss. ("Difficulty" means it has taken me one hour to find the translation. Hasn't the internet made us so impatient!)

The State Library of Western Australia kindly translated the first line ...
"Calmly the waves of ocean roll"

http://henrietta.slwa.wa.gov.au/search~S8/?searchtype=t&searcharg=scheidend&searchscope=8&SORT=D&extended=0&SUBMIT=Search&searchlimits=&searchorigarg=tscheidend

With this first-line clue I typed in that line. That lead me to me to an unpromising history of the Trinity Church, Buffalo, NY. A very, very long web page with no indexing, content list or anything. But... jackpot, I found the translation:

Calmly the waves of ocean roll 
Over my fainting, fleeting soul, 
Parting earth's friendships and rending in twain 
Hearts that will soon be united again 
On heaven's celestial plain. 

Swiftly before a purer day, 
Fade now yon golden stars away ; 
Lo ! realms of brightness now burst on my sight, 
Fast I am speeding from regions of night 
To heaven's eternal light." 

The song was sung at the funeral of Mary Knowlton Mixer. "Miss Underhill, the soprano, gave Mendelssohn's "Song of Parting" the words of which were the last ever sung by Miss Mixer."

http://www.archive.org/stream/historyoftrinity00mixe/historyoftrinity00mixe_djvu.txt