[The sound of a single violin begins, accompanied by a somber piano melody]

Eponine:
On my own
Pretending he's beside me
All alone
I walk with him 'til morning
Without him
I feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found me

[Eponine is singing about her unrequited love for Marius, who is in love with Cosette. She imagines being with him and feeling his embrace, even though she knows it's only a fantasy.]

In the rain
The pavement shines like silver
All the lights
Are misty in the river
In the darkness
The trees are full of starlight
And all I see is him and me forever and forever

[Eponine is wandering the streets alone, and the city is transformed by the rain and the nighttime. She sees Marius and Cosette together, but can't help imagining herself with him.]

And I know it's only in my mind
That I'm talking to myself and not to him
And although I know that he is blind
Still I say, there's a way for us
[Eponine is aware that her love for Marius is one-sided, but she can't help holding onto hope. She sings about finding a way for them to be together, even though she knows it's unlikely.]

I love him
But when thе night is over
He is gone
Thе river's just a river
Without him
The world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere
The streets are full of strangers

[Eponine knows that her love for Marius is fleeting, and that he will never feel the same way about her. She feels lost and alone without him.]

I love him
But every day I'm learning
All my life
I've only been pretending
Without me
His world will go on turning
A world that's full of happiness
That I have never known!

[Eponine realizes that her love for Marius will never be reciprocated, but she can't help loving him anyway. She accepts that he will never be hers, and sings about the happiness that she has never experienced.]

[The song ends with Eponine singing the last verse again, as the sound of the violin fades away.]