# Bildnis · Portrait

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems: The Other Part

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

**1** Daß von dem verzichtenden Gesichte  
So that from the renouncing face
> daß clause sends its verb last: daß means 'so that, in order that', and the subordinate verb it introduces goes to the clause's end. Its subject, keiner ihrer großen Schmerzen, and verb, fiele, land only in the next line. verzichtenden is the present participle of verzichten, 'to renounce'.

**2** keiner ihrer großen Schmerzen fiele,  
not one of her great sorrows might fall,
> Subjunctive for a wished-for outcome: fiele is the past subjunctive of fallen, 'to fall', used inside the daß clause for a purpose that has not happened: 'so that none might fall'. keiner ... Schmerzen is a genitive partitive, 'not one of her sorrows', with keiner taking the genitive Schmerzen.

**3** trägt sie langsam durch die Trauerspiele  
she carries slowly through the tragedies
> Verb-second after a fronted clause: trägt sie, 'she carries', is the main clause. Because the long daß clause filled the sentence's first slot, German still needs the finite verb trägt in second position, ahead of its subject sie. Its object arrives only in the next line.
> A compound word for tragedy: Trauerspiel, literally 'mourning play', is the German word for tragedy: Trauer, 'grief, mourning', plus Spiel, 'play'. The plural Trauerspiele names the roles she performs, the object of durch, 'through', in trägt sie ... durch die Trauerspiele.

**4** ihrer Züge schönen welken Strauß,  
the lovely withered bouquet of her features,
> Genitive placed before its noun: The object of trägt is schönen welken Strauß, 'lovely withered bouquet', with the genitive ihrer Züge, 'of her features', set before it in an older poetic order. Züge is the plural of Zug, here 'facial features'.

**5** wild gebunden und schon beinah lose;  
wildly bound and already nearly loose;
> Past participle for tying a bouquet: gebunden is the past participle of binden, 'to bind, tie', the verb used for tying a bouquet. wild gebunden means 'wildly bound'; schon beinah lose means 'already nearly loose'. lose means 'loose, slack', distinct from los, 'rid of'.

**6** manchmal fällt, wie eine Tuberose,  
sometimes, like a tuberose, there falls
> Adverb-first inversion, subject delayed: manchmal, 'sometimes', takes the front position, so the verb fällt, 'falls', comes next and its subject, ein verlornes Lächeln, 'a lost smile', is held back to the next line, the same inversion seen earlier with trägt sie.
> A borrowed flower name: Tuberose names the tuberose, Polianthes tuberosa, a white, strongly scented flower that opens at night. wie eine Tuberose means 'like a tuberose', the simile attached to the falling smile named in the next line.

**7** ein verlornes Lächeln müd heraus.  
a lost smile, wearily, out.
> Separable prefix comes last: The verb is herausfallen, 'to fall out', split apart: fällt stood in the line before and its prefix heraus, 'out', lands at the end of this line, as separable-prefix verbs require. verlornes is a poetic contraction of verlorenes, 'lost', and müd of müde, 'weary'.


**8** Und sie geht gelassen drüber hin,  
And she goes calmly on over it,
> Contraction plus separable prefix: drüber is a colloquial contraction of darüber, 'over it'; hin is the separable prefix of hingehen, 'to go along, pass on'. geht ... drüber hin together mean 'passes on over it'. gelassen means 'composed, unruffled', the participle of lassen used as an adverb.

**9** müde, mit den schönen blinden Händen,  
weary, with the lovely blind hands,

**10** welche wissen, daß sie es nicht fänden,  
which know that they would not find it,
> Subjunctive marks a search never tried: welche, 'which', opens a relative clause about the hands, and fänden inside it is the past subjunctive of finden, 'to find'. wissen, daß sie es nicht fänden means 'know that they would not find it'. es points back to the fallen smile.


**11** und sie sagt Erdichtetes, darin  
and she speaks invented things, in which
> A noun made from a participle: Erdichtetes is a neuter nominalized adjective from erdichten, 'to invent, fabricate', built on dichten, 'to compose poetry'. It means 'invented matter, fictions'. darin, 'therein, in which', is a pronominal adverb pointing forward to the clause that follows.

**12** Schicksal schwankt, gewolltes, irgendeines,  
fate sways, a willed one, some one or other,
> Neuter forms agreeing with Schicksal: Schicksal, 'fate, destiny', is the subject; schwankt, from schwanken, 'to sway, waver', is its verb. gewolltes, 'willed, deliberately devised', and irgendeines, 'some one or other', are both neuter forms agreeing with Schicksal, not separate nouns.

**13** und sie gibt ihm ihrer Seele Sinn,  
and she gives it her soul's meaning,
> Dative object plus a preposed genitive: gibt, 'gives', takes the dative ihm, 'to it', and the accusative object ihrer Seele Sinn. That object carries a genitive placed before its noun: ihrer Seele Sinn means 'the meaning of her soul', from der Sinn ihrer Seele.

**14** daß es ausbricht wie ein Ungemeines:  
so that it breaks out like something uncommon:
> daß clause of result: Another daß clause, this one of result: 'so that it breaks out'. ausbrechen, 'to break out, erupt', keeps its separable parts together at the clause's end, ausbricht, as subordinate word order requires. ein Ungemeines is a neuter noun from ungemein, 'uncommon, extraordinary'.

**15** wie das Schreien eines Steines–  
like the crying-out of a stone—
> Infinitive as a noun, plus genitive: das Schreien is the nominalized infinitive of schreien, 'to scream, cry out', used as a neuter noun. eines Steines, 'of a stone', is genitive, giving the phrase 'the crying-out of a stone'. The dash at the line's end leaves the image open.


**16** und sie läßt mit hochgehobnem Kinn  
and with chin raised high she lets
> lassen plus fallen, split apart: läßt, from lassen, 'to let, allow', begins the construction fallen lassen, 'to let fall, drop', but its infinitive fallen is delayed to the next line. mit hochgehobnem Kinn means 'with chin raised high', hochgehobnem a contracted dative of hochgehoben, 'raised high'.

**17** alle diese Worte wieder fallen,  
all these words fall again,

**18** ohne bleibend; denn nicht eins von allen  
without remaining; for not one of them all
> Compressed syntax for ohne zu: ohne bleibend is compressed poetic syntax standing in for ohne zu bleiben, 'without remaining'; bleibend is the present participle of bleiben, 'to remain, stay'. denn, 'for, because', introduces the reason that follows: nicht eins von allen, 'not one of them all'.

**19** ist der wehen Wirklichkeit gemäß,  
is equal to the aching reality,
> gemäß follows its noun: gemäß means 'in accordance with, adequate to, equal to', governs the dative, and usually follows its noun: der wehen Wirklichkeit gemäß means 'adequate to the aching reality'. wehen is the dative of weh, 'sore, aching'; Wirklichkeit is built on wirklich, 'real'.

**20** ihrem einzigen Eigentum,  
her one and only possession,
> Possession, built on eigen: Eigentum means 'property, possession, what belongs to one', from eigen, 'own'. The dative ihrem einzigen Eigentum, 'her one and only possession', stands in apposition to der wehen Wirklichkeit in the line above.

**21** das sie wie ein fußloses Gefäß  
which she, like a footless vessel,
> Vessel without a base: Gefäß means 'vessel, container'; fußlos, 'footless', combines Fuß, 'foot, base', with -los, 'without'. das is the neuter relative pronoun, 'which', referring to Eigentum, and sie is its subject, both governed by the verb that closes in the next line.

**22** halten muß, hoch über ihren Ruhm  
must hold, high above her fame
> Modal verb closes the clause: The relative clause opened two lines earlier closes its verbs here: halten muß, 'must hold'. In a subordinate clause the modal muß, from müssen, goes last, after the infinitive halten. hoch über ihren Ruhm takes the accusative after über.

**23** und den Gang der Abende hinaus.  
and out beyond the passing of the evenings.
> Separable prefix as the final word: The phrase hoch über ihren Ruhm und den Gang der Abende hinaus splits über ... hinaus, 'out beyond', with hinaus landing as the poem's last word. Gang means 'a going, a course', from gehen, 'to go'.

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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.