{"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":"buddha-in-der-glorie","title":{"source":"Buddha in der Glorie","translated":"Buddha in Glory"},"section":"New Poems: The Other Part","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/buddha-in-der-glorie","lines":12},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/der-kaeferstein","next":null,"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":"buddha-in-der-glorie-s1-l1","source":"Mitte aller Mitten, Kern der Kerne,","translation":"Center of all centers, kernel of kernels,","stanza":1,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/buddha-in-der-glorie-s1-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Mitte aller Mitten","title":"Genitive plural for the superlative","body":"Mitte aller Mitten, 'center of all centers', and Kern der Kerne, 'kernel of kernels', put a noun in the genitive plural after itself to mark its absolute degree, the same pattern as 'King of Kings'. aller is genitive plural of alle."}],"words":[{"surface":"Mitte","lemma":"Mitte","morphology":"noun, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"Center"},{"surface":"aller","lemma":"aller","morphology":"determiner, genitive, feminine, plural","role":"depends on Mitten","gloss":"all"},{"surface":"Mitten","lemma":"Mitte","morphology":"noun, genitive, feminine, plural","role":"depends on Mitte","gloss":"centers"},{"surface":"Kern","lemma":"Kern","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Mitte","gloss":"kernel"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, genitive, masculine, plural","role":"depends on Kerne","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Kerne","lemma":"Kern","morphology":"noun, genitive, masculine, plural","role":"depends on Kern","gloss":"kernels"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"buddha-in-der-glorie-s1-l2","source":"Mandel, die sich einschließt und versüßt,–","translation":"almond that encloses itself and grows sweet,–","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/buddha-in-der-glorie-s1-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"sich einschließt","title":"Separable verb, reflexive here","body":"einschließen, 'to enclose, shut in', is separable: its prefix ein- moves to the end of the clause, die sich einschließt. It is also reflexive, sich, so the almond encloses itself. versüßt, from the inseparable versüßen, 'to sweeten', stays whole."}],"words":[{"surface":"Mandel","lemma":"Mandel","morphology":"noun, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"almond"},{"surface":"die","lemma":"der","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on einschließt","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"sich","lemma":"sich","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, singular, reflexive","role":"depends on einschließt","gloss":"itself"},{"surface":"einschließt","lemma":"einschließen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"depends on Mandel","gloss":"encloses"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on einschließt","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"versüßt,–","lemma":"versüßen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"depends on einschließt","gloss":"grows sweet"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"buddha-in-der-glorie-s1-l3","source":"dieses alles bis an alle Sterne","translation":"all of this, out to the farthest stars,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/buddha-in-der-glorie-s1-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"bis an alle Sterne","title":"bis an takes the accusative","body":"bis an means 'as far as, right up to' and takes the accusative; alle Sterne, 'all the stars', is its object. bis and an work together as one compound preposition here rather than separately."}],"words":[{"surface":"dieses","lemma":"dieser","morphology":"determiner, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on alles","gloss":"this"},{"surface":"alles","lemma":"alle","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"all"},{"surface":"bis","lemma":"bis","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on an","gloss":"all the way"},{"surface":"an","lemma":"an","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on alles","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"alle","lemma":"aller","morphology":"determiner, accusative, masculine, plural","role":"depends on Sterne","gloss":"all"},{"surface":"Sterne","lemma":"Stern","morphology":"noun, accusative, masculine, plural","role":"depends on an","gloss":"stars"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"buddha-in-der-glorie-s1-l4","source":"ist dein Fruchtfleisch: Sei gegrüßt.","translation":"is your fruit-flesh: be greeted.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/buddha-in-der-glorie-s1-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Fruchtfleisch","title":"A compound noun for pulp","body":"Fruchtfleisch literally joins Frucht, 'fruit', and Fleisch, 'flesh, meat', to name the soft pulp of a fruit. German fuses the two into a single noun where English needs a hyphen: 'fruit-flesh'."},{"kind":"grammar","term":"Sei gegrüßt","title":"Passive formed with the imperative","body":"sei is the imperative of sein, 'be', and gegrüßt is the past participle of grüßen, 'to greet'; together they form a passive command, 'be greeted'. This fixed formula works like the Latin salutation 'ave'."}],"words":[{"surface":"ist","lemma":"sein","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"is"},{"surface":"dein","lemma":"dein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Fruchtfleisch","gloss":"your"},{"surface":"Fruchtfleisch","lemma":"Fruchtfleisch","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"fruit-flesh"},{"surface":"Sei","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, imperative, second-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"be","note":"\"Sei gegrüßt\" is a fixed benediction formula, \"be greeted\" / \"hail.\""},{"surface":"gegrüßt","lemma":"grüßen","morphology":"verb, participle, past","role":"depends on Sei","gloss":"greeted"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"buddha-in-der-glorie-s2-l1","source":"Sieh, du fühlst, wie nichts mehr an dir hängt;","translation":"See — you feel how nothing clings to you any longer;","stanza":2,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/buddha-in-der-glorie-s2-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"an dir hängt","title":"hängen an takes the dative","body":"hängen an, 'to hang on, cling to', governs the dative: an dir, 'to you'. nichts mehr is 'nothing any longer' and is the subject of hängt. wie here is the subordinating conjunction 'how', introducing fühlst's clause."}],"words":[{"surface":"Sieh","lemma":"sehen","morphology":"verb, imperative, second-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"See"},{"surface":"du","lemma":"du","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, singular","role":"depends on fühlst","gloss":"you"},{"surface":"fühlst","lemma":"fühlen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, second-person, singular","role":"depends on Sieh","gloss":"you feel"},{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on hängt","gloss":"how"},{"surface":"nichts","lemma":"nichts","morphology":"pronoun, neuter","role":"depends on hängt","gloss":"nothing"},{"surface":"mehr","lemma":"mehr","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on nichts","gloss":"any longer"},{"surface":"an","lemma":"an","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on hängt","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"dir","lemma":"dir","morphology":"pronoun, dative, singular","role":"depends on an","gloss":"you"},{"surface":"hängt","lemma":"hängen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"depends on fühlst","gloss":"clings"}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"buddha-in-der-glorie-s2-l2","source":"im Unendlichen ist deine Schale,","translation":"your husk lies in the infinite,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/buddha-in-der-glorie-s2-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"im Unendlichen","title":"Adjective turned into a noun","body":"unendlich, 'infinite', is nominalized here as das Unendliche, 'the infinite'; im is a contraction of in dem. German capitalizes and declines adjectives this way when they stand alone as nouns. Schale means 'shell, rind, husk'."}],"words":[{"surface":"im","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"in the"},{"surface":"Unendlichen","lemma":"unendlich","morphology":"adjective (nominalized as noun), dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on im","gloss":"infinite"},{"surface":"ist","lemma":"sein","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"lies"},{"surface":"deine","lemma":"dein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Schale","gloss":"your"},{"surface":"Schale","lemma":"Schale","morphology":"noun, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"husk"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"buddha-in-der-glorie-s2-l3","source":"und dort steht der starke Saft und drängt.","translation":"and there the strong sap stands and presses.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/buddha-in-der-glorie-s2-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"steht ... und drängt","title":"Two verbs, stehen and drängen","body":"Saft means 'sap, juice'. stehen here means the sap stands gathered, at the full, rather than simply upright. drängen means 'to press, push, urge'. Both verbs share der starke Saft as their subject, joined by und."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"connects ist (previous line) and steht","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"dort","lemma":"dort","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on steht","gloss":"there"},{"surface":"steht","lemma":"stehen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"stands"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Saft","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"starke","lemma":"stark","morphology":"adjective, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Saft","gloss":"strong"},{"surface":"Saft","lemma":"Saft","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on steht","gloss":"sap"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"connects steht and drängt","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"drängt","lemma":"drängen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"coordinated with steht (via und)","gloss":"presses"}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"buddha-in-der-glorie-s2-l4","source":"Und von außen hilft ihm ein Gestrahle,","translation":"And from outside a radiance helps it,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/buddha-in-der-glorie-s2-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"hilft ihm","title":"helfen governs the dative","body":"helfen, 'to help', takes a dative object, not accusative: hilft ihm, 'helps it'. ihm refers back to der Saft. ein Gestrahle is the subject, a noun Rilke builds from strahlen, 'to radiate', with the collective Ge- ... -e frame."}],"words":[{"surface":"Und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on hilft","gloss":"And"},{"surface":"von","lemma":"von","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on hilft","gloss":"from"},{"surface":"außen","lemma":"außen","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on von","gloss":"outside"},{"surface":"hilft","lemma":"helfen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"helps"},{"surface":"ihm","lemma":"ihm","morphology":"pronoun, dative, singular","role":"depends on hilft","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"ein","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Gestrahle","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"Gestrahle","lemma":"Gestrahle","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on hilft","gloss":"radiance","note":"Rilke's own coinage from strahlen ('to radiate') with the Ge-...-e pattern; not a standard dictionary word."}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"buddha-in-der-glorie-s3-l1","source":"denn ganz oben werden deine Sonnen","translation":"for high above, your suns are being","stanza":3,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/buddha-in-der-glorie-s3-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"werden ... umgedreht","title":"Passive auxiliary strands its participle","body":"werden is the passive auxiliary here, completed only in the next line by the participle umgedreht: deine Sonnen werden ... umgedreht, 'your suns are turned around'. German can hold the participle far from werden. denn means 'for, because'."}],"words":[{"surface":"denn","lemma":"denn","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on werden","gloss":"for"},{"surface":"ganz","lemma":"ganz","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on oben","gloss":"entirely"},{"surface":"oben","lemma":"oben","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on werden","gloss":"above"},{"surface":"werden","lemma":"werden","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"are being"},{"surface":"deine","lemma":"dein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on Sonnen","gloss":"your"},{"surface":"Sonnen","lemma":"Sonne","morphology":"noun, nominative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on werden","gloss":"suns"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"buddha-in-der-glorie-s3-l2","source":"voll und glühend umgedreht.","translation":"wheeled full and glowing round.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/buddha-in-der-glorie-s3-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"umgedreht","title":"Past participle completes the passive","body":"umdrehen, 'to turn around, rotate', is separable; umgedreht is its past participle, completing the passive begun by werden in the line above. voll and glühend, 'full' and 'glowing', are uninflected predicate adjectives modifying the same subject."}],"words":[{"surface":"voll","lemma":"voll","morphology":"adjective, predicate, uninflected","role":"depends on umgedreht","gloss":"full"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"connects voll and glühend","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"glühend","lemma":"glühend","morphology":"adjective, predicate, uninflected","role":"depends on umgedreht","gloss":"glowing"},{"surface":"umgedreht","lemma":"umdrehen","morphology":"verb, past participle","role":"depends on werden (previous line)","gloss":"wheeled round"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"buddha-in-der-glorie-s3-l3","source":"Doch in dir ist schon begonnen,","translation":"Yet within you has already begun","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/buddha-in-der-glorie-s3-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"ist schon begonnen","title":"sein where haben is expected","body":"beginnen normally forms its perfect with haben: hat begonnen. Here ist begonnen instead reads as a state passive, 'is already begun', naming a resulting state rather than a completed action. doch means 'yet' and schon means 'already'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Doch","lemma":"doch","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"Yet"},{"surface":"in","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"within"},{"surface":"dir","lemma":"dir","morphology":"pronoun, dative, singular","role":"depends on in","gloss":"you"},{"surface":"ist","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"has","note":"Poetic/archaic use of sein (rather than the expected haben) with begonnen, blending perfect and passive senses."},{"surface":"schon","lemma":"schon","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on begonnen","gloss":"already"},{"surface":"begonnen","lemma":"beginnen","morphology":"verb, past participle","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"begun"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"buddha-in-der-glorie-s3-l4","source":"was die Sonnen übersteht.","translation":"what will outlast the suns.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/buddha-in-der-glorie-s3-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"übersteht","title":"überstehen takes a direct object","body":"überstehen means 'to survive, outlast, withstand' and takes a direct accusative object: was die Sonnen übersteht, 'what outlasts the suns'. was, 'that which', is the subject of this relative clause, with die Sonnen as the object of übersteht."}],"words":[{"surface":"was","lemma":"was","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on übersteht","gloss":"what"},{"surface":"die","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on Sonnen","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Sonnen","lemma":"Sonne","morphology":"noun, accusative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on übersteht","gloss":"suns"},{"surface":"übersteht","lemma":"überstehen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"will outlast"}]}]}