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English translation
Square brackets mark uncertain words or editorial explanations. Songs are translated for meaning; their speakers are not necessarily the writer.
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Poplitz, February 17, [1877; year provisional]
Dear Sister and Children,
If these few lines find you in good health, as they leave us here, we shall be glad with all our hearts.
Dear sister, after the last letter I wrote to you, I kept hoping for an answer, but always in vain, until I became quite doubtful about writing to you again.
I always think of my dear brother-in-law, [Gotthold?], who loved me and you so dearly. I grieve for him with all my heart. The dear Lord loved him too. We all stand before that place, one sooner and another later. [A reflection on death; precise wording uncertain.]
My dear daughter, [Emilie?], has also died, at twelve and a half years of age. We still grieve greatly for her. Four [children] have now died on us. But what God does is well done. I wrote to you about it straight away, because the youngest of your godchildren had died, but we received no answer.
We still have three sons:
[Eduard] is a Feldwebel [a senior noncommissioned officer] with the [30th?] Regiment in France.
Karl is also married, in Alsleben.
Franz is in Magdeburg.
As for us, we are still at Poplitz, on the manor estate, and receive a support payment [exact type uncertain; the historical translation calls it a pension]. I worked diligently for twenty years, [but/because] my chest was so weak. [The sentence's exact causal construction is uncertain.]
Page 2
Dear sister, times here are also very bad for the working people, for they have no work. All the factories stand idle, and the people are unemployed. [A sentence about the war remains partly unclear.] One hears much that is bad, but nothing good.
Have you still not received a letter from David? He has withdrawn his hand from me [wording expresses estrangement or lost contact]. I certainly have done him no harm, nor have I demanded anything from him. Surely he could show his [brotherly?] love a little, for we human beings are only guests in this world.
If I have done you any wrong, may the dear Lord in heaven [repay/judge] it. Yet I still believe that I have brothers and sisters on this earth. In my old age, I would be so glad to receive a letter from you dear ones every year, and I would be grateful to you all.
Dear Reinhold and Selma, my heartfelt wish for you is that you may stand by your dear mother in all her troubles.
May the dear Lord keep all of you healthy and happy. I will close now.
Many greetings from my wife, from Karl and Franz, and from all acquaintances.
I remain your brother,
Friedrich Hilpert
