# Blaue Hortensie · Blue Hydrangea

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** So wie das letzte Grün in Farbentiegeln  
Like the last green left in the paint-pots,
> Dative plural after in: Farbentiegeln is the dative plural of Farbentiegel, a compound of Farbe, 'paint', and Tiegel, 'small pot or crucible'. It names the shallow pans a painter mixes color in. The dative form follows the preposition in.

**2** sind diese Blätter, trocken, stumpf und rauh,  
are these leaves, dry, dull and rough,
> Verb second after fronted clause: The clause opens with the comparison So wie das letzte Grün, which fills the first position in the sentence. German keeps the finite verb in second position, so sind comes before its subject diese Blätter. Read across the line break, 'are these leaves'.

**3** hinter den Blütendolden, die ein Blau  
behind the flower-clusters, which a blue
> Compound noun for flower clusters: Blütendolden combines Blüte, 'blossom', and Dolde, 'umbel', the rounded flower head where many small florets grow from one point. It is dative plural after hinter. The relative pronoun die at the end of the line refers back to it.

**4** nicht auf sich tragen, nur von ferne spiegeln.  
do not wear upon themselves, but only mirror from afar.
> Object fronted, verbs held back: ein Blau, 'a blue', is the accusative object of the relative clause, pulled to the front. Its verbs tragen and spiegeln stand at the end, as German relative clauses require. auf sich tragen means 'to carry or wear on oneself'.


**5** Sie spiegeln es verweint und ungenau,  
They mirror it tear-stained and imprecise,
> Participle meaning tear stained: verweint is the past participle of verweinen, built on weinen, 'to weep', with the prefix ver- marking a worn result. It means 'red and swollen from crying, tear-stained'. Here it describes the reflected blue, agreeing with es, the object of spiegeln.

**6** als wollten sie es wiederum verlieren,  
as though they meant to lose it once again,
> Subjunctive after als: als, 'as though', directly followed by the verb, introduces an unreal comparison and takes the subjunctive. wollten is the past subjunctive of wollen, 'to want or intend'. wiederum means 'once more, again'.

**7** und wie in alten blauen Briefpapieren  
and as in old blue letter-paper
> Compound noun for writing paper: Briefpapieren combines Brief, 'letter', and Papier, 'paper', meaning stationery or notepaper. It is dative plural, following the preposition in. The comparison to old blue writing paper continues into the next line.

**8** ist Gelb in ihnen, Violett und Grau;  
there is yellow in them, violet and grey;
> Predicate fronted before ist: The predicate Gelb, 'yellow', stands before ist and its phrase in ihnen, 'in them', where ihnen is the dative plural pronoun for Briefpapieren in the line above. English needs 'there is': there is yellow in them. Color names are capitalized as nouns here.


**9** Verwaschnes wie an einer Kinderschürze,  
Washed-out things, as on a child's pinafore,
> Adjective turned into noun: verwaschen, 'washed out, faded by washing', becomes a neuter noun by capitalizing it and adding -es: Verwaschnes, 'that which is washed out'. German freely turns adjectives into nouns this way. The full ending -enes is shortened to -nes for the meter.

**10** Nichtmehrgetragnes, dem nichts mehr geschieht:  
no-longer-worn things, to which nothing more happens:
> A phrase made into one word: nicht mehr getragen, 'no longer worn', is fused into one nominalized adjective, Nichtmehrgetragnes, 'that which is no longer worn'. tragen here means 'to wear clothes'. The dative relative dem nichts mehr geschieht means 'to which nothing more happens'.

**11** wie fühlt man eines kleinen Lebens Kürze.  
how one feels the brevity of a small life.
> Genitive placed before its noun: eines kleinen Lebens is genitive, 'of a small life', placed before its noun Kürze, 'shortness, brevity'. Prose order would be die Kürze eines kleinen Lebens. The impersonal man, 'one', is the subject of fühlt, 'feels'.


**12** Doch plötzlich scheint das Blau sich zu verneuen  
Yet suddenly the blue seems to renew itself
> A rare reflexive verb: verneuen is a rare, near archaic verb meaning 'to renew, make new again'. The reflexive sich verneuen means 'to renew itself'. Modern German would usually say sich erneuern. scheint zu verneuen uses scheinen zu plus infinitive, 'to seem to do'.

**13** in einer von den Dolden, und man sieht  
in one of the clusters, and one sees
> Partitive phrase for one of: einer is the feminine dative form of eine, 'one', after in: in einer means 'in one'. von den Dolden means 'of the clusters', the partitive construction 'one of'. Dolde is the umbel named earlier as Blütendolde.

**14** ein rührend Blaues sich vor Grünem freuen.  
a touching blue rejoice before the green.
> Nominalized adjective with reflexive verb: Blaues is again an adjective turned noun, 'a blue thing', modified by rührend, 'moving, touching', left in its bare uninflected form. sich freuen means 'to be glad, to rejoice'. With vor plus dative, vor Grünem means 'before, against the green'.

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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.