{"work":{"slug":"rilke","title":{"source":"Neue Gedichte","translated":"New Poems"},"author":"Rainer Maria Rilke","language":"German","languageCode":"de","url":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke"},"unit":{"kind":"poem","number":null,"id":"auswanderer-schiff","title":{"source":"Auswanderer-Schiff","translated":"Emigrant Ship"},"section":"New Poems: The Other Part","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/auswanderer-schiff","lines":13},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/der-balkon","next":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/landschaft","license":"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.","audioBase":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/","lines":[{"number":1,"label":"1","id":"auswanderer-schiff-s1-l1","source":"Denk, daß einer heiß und glühend flüchte,","translation":"Imagine someone fled hot and glowing,","stanza":1,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/auswanderer-schiff-s1-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Denk, daß …","title":"Imperative opens a hypothetical","body":"Denk is the bare imperative of denken, 'to think', here meaning 'imagine'. Denk, daß means 'Imagine that'. daß is the older spelling of dass, 'that', and as a subordinating conjunction it sends its verb, flüchte, to the end of the clause."},{"kind":"grammar","term":"flüchte","title":"Subjunctive for an imagined scene","body":"flüchte is Konjunktiv I, present subjunctive, of flüchten, 'to flee', not the plain present flüchtet. German uses this mood for something merely imagined rather than asserted as fact, so the fugitive and the pursuit are held up as supposition."}],"words":[{"surface":"Denk","lemma":"denken","morphology":"verb, imperative, second-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"imagine"},{"surface":"daß","lemma":"daß","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on flüchte","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"einer","lemma":"einer","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"subject of flüchte","gloss":"someone"},{"surface":"heiß","lemma":"heiß","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on flüchte","gloss":"hot"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on heiß","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"glühend","lemma":"glühend","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on und","gloss":"glowing"},{"surface":"flüchte","lemma":"flüchten","morphology":"verb, present, subjunctive, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the daß-clause","gloss":"fled"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"auswanderer-schiff-s1-l2","source":"und die Sieger wären hinterher,","translation":"and the victors were close behind,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/auswanderer-schiff-s1-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"wären","title":"Were, subjunctive of sein","body":"wären is Konjunktiv II of sein, 'to be', meaning 'were, would be'. It continues the supposition begun with Denk, daß, so the pursuers are imagined, not stated as fact. hinterher means 'behind, in pursuit'."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on wären","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"die","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, plural","role":"depends on Sieger","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Sieger","lemma":"Sieger","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, plural","role":"subject of wären","gloss":"victors"},{"surface":"wären","lemma":"sein","morphology":"verb, past, subjunctive, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"were"},{"surface":"hinterher","lemma":"hinterher","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on wären","gloss":"close behind"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"auswanderer-schiff-s1-l3","source":"und auf einmal machte der","translation":"and all at once the","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/auswanderer-schiff-s1-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"auf einmal","title":"Fixed phrase split by a break","body":"auf einmal is a fixed phrase meaning 'all at once, suddenly'. The line breaks in the middle of the sentence: machte der dangles here, its subject Flüchtende held back to the start of the next line."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on machte","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"auf","lemma":"auf","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on machte","gloss":"at"},{"surface":"einmal","lemma":"einmal","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on auf","gloss":"once"},{"surface":"machte","lemma":"machen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"made"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Flüchtende","gloss":"the"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"auswanderer-schiff-s1-l4","source":"Flüchtende kurz, unerwartet, Kehr","translation":"fugitive, sharp and sudden, wheeled about","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/auswanderer-schiff-s1-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"der Flüchtende","title":"Present participle used as a noun","body":"der Flüchtende, 'the fleeing one, the fugitive', is the present participle of flüchten used as a noun, declined like an adjective. It is the subject of machte from the line before, stranded here by the line break."},{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Kehr machen","title":"Idiom for wheeling about","body":"Kehr, from kehren, 'to turn', is the turn itself. Kehr machen, more usually kehrtmachen, means 'to wheel about, turn on one's heels'. kurz and unerwartet mean 'sharp' and 'sudden', describing how the fugitive turns."}],"words":[{"surface":"Flüchtende","lemma":"Flüchtende","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"subject of machte","gloss":"fugitive"},{"surface":"kurz","lemma":"kurz","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on Flüchtende","gloss":"sharp"},{"surface":"unerwartet","lemma":"unerwartet","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on Flüchtende","gloss":"sudden"},{"surface":"Kehr","lemma":"Kehre","morphology":"noun, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on machte","gloss":"a turn","note":"machte...Kehr = idiom for 'wheeled about, turned back'."}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"auswanderer-schiff-s1-l5","source":"gegen Hunderte–: so sehr","translation":"to face the hundreds—: so hard","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/auswanderer-schiff-s1-l5.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"gegen Hunderte","title":"Gegen takes the accusative","body":"gegen, 'against, facing', always takes the accusative. Hunderte is the plural noun 'hundreds', so gegen Hunderte means 'against the hundreds', the fugitive turning to face the whole pursuing crowd."}],"words":[{"surface":"gegen","lemma":"gegen","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Kehr","gloss":"to face"},{"surface":"Hunderte–","lemma":"Hundert","morphology":"noun, accusative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on gegen","gloss":"hundreds"},{"surface":"so","lemma":"so","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on sehr","gloss":"so"},{"surface":"sehr","lemma":"sehr","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on warf","gloss":"hard"}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"auswanderer-schiff-s1-l6","source":"warf sich das Erglühende der Früchte","translation":"the glowing of the fruit kept flinging itself","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/auswanderer-schiff-s1-l6.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"das Erglühende","title":"Participle made into a noun","body":"erglühen means 'to flare up, begin to glow'; its prefix er- marks the coming into glow. The present participle is capitalized into a neuter noun, das Erglühende, 'that which glows'. der Früchte, 'of the fruit', gives the subject 'the glowing of the fruit'."},{"kind":"grammar","term":"warf sich","title":"Sich werfen with inverted order","body":"sich werfen means 'to throw, fling oneself'. warf, 'flung', stands before its subject das Erglühende because the long daß-clause filled the first position, forcing subject and verb to invert."}],"words":[{"surface":"warf","lemma":"werfen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"flung"},{"surface":"sich","lemma":"sich","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, singular, reflexive","role":"depends on warf","gloss":"itself"},{"surface":"das","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Erglühende","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Erglühende","lemma":"Erglühende","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"subject of warf","gloss":"glow"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, genitive, feminine, plural","role":"depends on Früchte","gloss":"of the"},{"surface":"Früchte","lemma":"Frucht","morphology":"noun, genitive, feminine, plural","role":"depends on Erglühende","gloss":"fruit"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"auswanderer-schiff-s1-l7","source":"immer wieder an das blaue Meer,","translation":"again and again against the blue sea,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/auswanderer-schiff-s1-l7.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"an das blaue Meer","title":"An with accusative for motion","body":"an takes the accusative when there is motion up against something, and the dative for rest. The accusative an das blaue Meer, 'against the blue sea', gives the fruit's motion a forward thrust. immer wieder means 'again and again'."}],"words":[{"surface":"immer","lemma":"immer","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on wieder","gloss":"again"},{"surface":"wieder","lemma":"wieder","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on warf","gloss":"and again"},{"surface":"an","lemma":"an","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on warf","gloss":"against"},{"surface":"das","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Meer","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"blaue","lemma":"blau","morphology":"adjective, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Meer","gloss":"blue"},{"surface":"Meer","lemma":"Meer","morphology":"noun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on an","gloss":"sea"}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"auswanderer-schiff-s2-l1","source":"als das langsame Orangenboot","translation":"as the slow orange-boat","stanza":2,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/auswanderer-schiff-s2-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"als","title":"Temporal conjunction, when","body":"als here is the temporal conjunction 'as, when', introducing the scene the earlier simile was building toward. It sends its verb, vorübertrug in the next line, to the end of the clause. Do not confuse this with comparative als, 'than'."},{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Orangenboot","title":"A compound built from two nouns","body":"Orangenboot welds Orangen, 'oranges', to Boot, 'boat': a boat laden with oranges. German fuses nouns into one word, the last noun carrying the gender and number. The fruit glowing earlier turns out to be a cargo of oranges."}],"words":[{"surface":"als","lemma":"als","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on vorübertrug","gloss":"as"},{"surface":"das","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Orangenboot","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"langsame","lemma":"langsam","morphology":"adjective, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Orangenboot","gloss":"slow"},{"surface":"Orangenboot","lemma":"Orangenboot","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"subject of vorübertrug","gloss":"orange-boat"}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"auswanderer-schiff-s2-l2","source":"sie vorübertrug bis an das große","translation":"carried them past, up to the great","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/auswanderer-schiff-s2-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"vorübertrug","title":"Separable prefix stays fused","body":"vorübertragen, 'to carry past', has the separable prefix vorüber-, 'past, by'. As the verb of the als-clause it sits at the clause's end and stays whole. sie means 'them', the oranges."}],"words":[{"surface":"sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, plural","role":"depends on vorübertrug","gloss":"them"},{"surface":"vorübertrug","lemma":"vorübertragen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"carried past"},{"surface":"bis","lemma":"bis","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on an","gloss":"up"},{"surface":"an","lemma":"an","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on vorübertrug","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"das","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Schiff","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"große","lemma":"groß","morphology":"adjective, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Schiff","gloss":"great"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"auswanderer-schiff-s2-l3","source":"graue Schiff, zu dem, von Stoß zu Stoße,","translation":"grey ship, to which, from jolt to jolt,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/auswanderer-schiff-s2-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"von Stoß zu Stoße","title":"Archaic dative ending -e","body":"Stoß means 'a push, jolt, knock'. The phrase von zu uses the dative on both sides; the second, Stoße, keeps the archaic dative -e that older German added to many masculine and neuter nouns. von Stoß zu Stoße means 'from jolt to jolt'."}],"words":[{"surface":"graue","lemma":"grau","morphology":"adjective, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Schiff","gloss":"grey"},{"surface":"Schiff","lemma":"Schiff","morphology":"noun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on an","gloss":"ship"},{"surface":"zu","lemma":"zu","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Schiff","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"dem","lemma":"der","morphology":"pronoun, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on zu","gloss":"which"},{"surface":"von","lemma":"von","morphology":"preposition","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"from"},{"surface":"Stoß","lemma":"Stoß","morphology":"noun, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on von","gloss":"jolt"},{"surface":"zu","lemma":"zu","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on von","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"Stoße","lemma":"Stoß","morphology":"noun, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on zu","gloss":"jolt"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"auswanderer-schiff-s2-l4","source":"andre Boote Fische hoben, Brot,–","translation":"other boats hoisted up fish, and bread—","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/auswanderer-schiff-s2-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Boote Fische hoben","title":"Verb-final in a relative clause","body":"This is the relative clause opened by zu dem, 'to which', in the line before, so its verb hoben, 'hoisted', past of heben, comes last, after both subject and object. In plain order: andre Boote hoben Fische, Brot."}],"words":[{"surface":"andre","lemma":"andere","morphology":"adjective, nominative, plural","role":"depends on Boote","gloss":"other"},{"surface":"Boote","lemma":"Boot","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, plural","role":"subject of hoben","gloss":"boats"},{"surface":"Fische","lemma":"Fisch","morphology":"noun, accusative, masculine, plural","role":"depends on hoben","gloss":"fish"},{"surface":"hoben","lemma":"heben","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"hoisted"},{"surface":"Brot,–","lemma":"Brot","morphology":"noun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on hoben","gloss":"bread"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"auswanderer-schiff-s2-l5","source":"während es voll Flohn in seinem Schöße","translation":"while it, full of fleas in its lap,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/auswanderer-schiff-s2-l5.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Flohn","title":"An older plural for fleas","body":"Floh means 'flea'; Flohn is an older, dialect-flavored form standing in for the standard plural Flöhe, 'fleas', chosen here for the rhyme. voll Flohn means 'full of fleas', a detail of squalor aboard the ship."},{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"in seinem Schöße","title":"Lap or womb, archaic ending","body":"Schoß means 'lap' or 'womb', and figuratively the sheltering inside of something. With the archaic dative ending -e and an umlaut for the rhyme, in seinem Schöße means 'in its lap', here the ship's hold."}],"words":[{"surface":"während","lemma":"während","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on aufnahm","gloss":"while"},{"surface":"es","lemma":"es","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"subject of aufnahm","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"voll","lemma":"voll","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on es","gloss":"full of"},{"surface":"Flohn","lemma":"Floh","morphology":"noun, dative, masculine, plural","role":"depends on voll","gloss":"fleas"},{"surface":"in","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on aufnahm","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"seinem","lemma":"sein","morphology":"determiner, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Schöße","gloss":"its"},{"surface":"Schöße","lemma":"Schoß","morphology":"noun, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on in","gloss":"lap"}]},{"number":13,"label":"13","id":"auswanderer-schiff-s2-l6","source":"Kohlen aufnahm, offen wie der Tod.","translation":"took on coal, open like death.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/auswanderer-schiff-s2-l6.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"aufnahm","title":"Separable verb aufnehmen","body":"aufnehmen means 'to take in, take on, receive' and is separable, prefix auf-. As the verb of the während clause it closes it, während es Kohlen aufnahm, 'while it took on coal'. offen wie der Tod means 'open like death'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Kohlen","lemma":"Kohle","morphology":"noun, accusative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on aufnahm","gloss":"coal"},{"surface":"aufnahm","lemma":"aufnehmen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"took on"},{"surface":"offen","lemma":"offen","morphology":"adjective","role":"depends on es","gloss":"open"},{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Tod","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Tod","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Tod","lemma":"Tod","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on wie","gloss":"death"}]}]}