# Auferstehung · Resurrection

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/auferstehung. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/auferstehung.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/<line id>.m4a.

**1** Der Graf vernimmt die Töne,  
The count makes out the sounds,
> A formal verb for hearing: Vernehmen, third person vernimmt, is a more formal verb for 'to perceive, to make out, to catch a sound', more elevated than the everyday hören, 'to hear'. It also carries a legal sense, 'to interrogate, to take a statement'. Die Töne means 'the sounds'.

**2** er sieht einen lichten Riß;  
he sees a rift of light;
> licht versus leicht: Licht is an adjective meaning 'bright, full of light, luminous', related to das Licht, 'light'. Do not confuse it with leicht, 'light in weight'. Der Riß, now spelled Riss, means 'a tear, crack, rift'. Einen lichten Riß is accusative, the object of sieht.

**3** er weckt seine dreizehn Söhne  
he wakes his thirteen sons

**4** im Erbbegräbnis.  
in the family vault.
> A compound for the family vault: Erbbegräbnis combines das Erbe, 'inheritance, heritage', and das Begräbnis, 'burial, grave'. It names the hereditary family tomb that passes down a noble line. Im Erbbegräbnis is dative after in, marking location, 'in the family vault'.


**5** Er grüßt seine beiden Frauen  
He greets his two wives
> Weak ending after a possessive: Beide means 'both, the two of them'. After the possessive seine it takes the weak adjective ending -en: seine beiden Frauen means 'his two wives'. Frauen is accusative plural, the object of grüßt.

**6** ehrerbietig von weit–;  
deferentially, from afar—;
> A formal word for respect: Ehrerbietig means 'respectful, deferential, reverent'. It is built from Ehre, 'honor', and the old verb erbieten, 'to offer, to show'. It functions here as an adverb depending on grüßt. Von weit means 'from afar'.

**7** und alle voll Vertrauen  
and all of them, full of trust,
> A noun without an article: Voll, 'full of', here governs a noun with no article: voll Vertrauen means 'full of trust'. Das Vertrauen means 'trust, confidence', from vertrauen, 'to trust'. The phrase depends on alle, 'all of them'.

**8** stehn auf zur Ewigkeit  
rise up toward eternity
> Separable verb aufstehen split: The verb is aufstehen, 'to stand up, to rise'. Stehn, a poetic contraction of stehen, stays in the clause while the prefix auf is placed after it. Sie stehn auf means 'they rise'. Zur Ewigkeit is dative after zu, 'toward eternity'.


**9** und warten nur noch auf Erich  
and wait now only for Erich
> Takes the accusative case: Warten auf means 'to wait for'. Auf here governs the accusative, the thing awaited: auf Erich means 'for Erich'. Nur noch is an idiom meaning 'only still, nothing left but'.

**10** und Ulriken Dorotheen,  
and Ulrike Dorothea,
> An old accusative on names: Ulriken and Dorotheen carry an archaic -en ending, the old way German declined personal names, especially women's, in the accusative or dative. Ulrike becomes Ulriken. Governed by warten auf from the line above, they name the second awaited child.

**11** die sieben- und dreizehnjährig  
who, aged seven and thirteen,
> Turning a number into an age: The suffix -jährig turns a number into an age adjective: dreizehnjährig means 'thirteen years old'. The hanging hyphen in sieben- is a shared-element ellipsis standing for siebenjährig, so the phrase means 'seven years old and thirteen years old'. Die is the relative pronoun 'who' for both children.

**12** (sechzehnhundertzehn)  
(sixteen hundred and ten)
> Reading a year in hundreds: German reads four-digit years in hundreds. Sechzehnhundertzehn means 'sixteen hundred ten', the year 1610. It depends on verstorben in the next line, stating the year of death.

**13** verstorben sind in Flandern,  
died in Flanders,
> Perfect tense formed with sein: Versterben, 'to pass away, to die', is an elevated form of sterben. Verbs of change of state form the perfect with sein, not haben: sie sind verstorben means 'they died'. The participle verstorben and the auxiliary sind land together at the end of the relative clause.

**14** um heute vor den andern  
so as today, ahead of the others,
> A purpose clause split across lines: This line opens an um zu construction, 'in order to', that completes only in the final line with herzugehn. Um heute vor den andern herzugehn means 'in order to walk ahead of the others today'. Vor den andern is dative after vor, marking position.

**15** unbeirrt herzugehn.  
walk on, unswerving.
> A verb of motion, split: Unbeirrt means 'unswerving, undeterred', from beirren, 'to confuse, to disconcert'. Herzugehen is a separable verb of motion, 'to walk along, to come toward here'. With um zu, the zu sits inside the verb as her-zu-gehn. Together they mean 'to walk on undeterred'.

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Source text: public domain (Rainer Maria Rilke, died 1926; Neue Gedichte published 1907 and 1908), from Wikisource. English translation and notes: © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC. Narration: synthesized for this edition.