# Buddha · Buddha

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Als ob er horchte. Stille: eine Ferne....  
As if he were listening. Stillness: a distance....
> Als ob plus subjunctive: Als ob means 'as though' and governs the subjunctive: horchte is the past subjunctive, Konjunktiv II, of horchen, 'to listen intently, to hearken'. Because als ob is subordinating, the verb moves to the end of its clause.

**2** Wir halten ein und hören sie nicht mehr.  
We pause, and hear it no longer.
> Separable verb einhalten: The verb is einhalten, 'to pause, to stop short'. In a main clause its separable prefix ein splits off and moves to the end: wir halten ein means 'we stop short'. Sie, 'it', is feminine because it refers back to eine Ferne, 'the distance'.

**3** Und er ist Stern. Und andre große Sterne,  
And he is star. And other great stars,
> Predicate noun without an article: German usually takes an article here, but this line drops it: er ist Stern, not er ist ein Stern. The bare noun names a state of being rather than a countable thing.

**4** die wir nicht sehen, stehen um ihn her.  
which we do not see, stand round about him.
> All around, round about: The frame um … her means 'all around, round about': um ihn her, 'all around him'. Stehen, 'stand', has andre große Sterne from the previous line as its subject, with die wir nicht sehen, 'which we do not see', folded in as a relative clause.


**5** O er ist alles. Wirklich, warten wir,  
Oh, he is everything. Really, are we waiting

**6** daß er uns sähe? Sollte er bedürfen?  
for him to see us? Should he have need?
> Subjunctive after warten dass: Sähe is the Konjunktiv II of sehen, 'to see'. After warten … daß, 'to wait that, to wait for', the subjunctive frames an outcome that is unreal or only hoped for. Bedürfen, 'to have need of', governs the genitive and stands here alone.

**7** Und wenn wir hier uns vor ihm niederwürfen,  
And were we to throw ourselves down before him here,
> Separable verb, subjunctive form: Sich niederwerfen means 'to prostrate oneself, to throw oneself down'. Here it is reflexive, uns, and in Konjunktiv II, niederwürfen, from warfen, forming an unreal condition with wenn: 'even if we were to throw ourselves down'. In the subordinate clause the whole verb, prefix included, stays at the end.

**8** er bliebe tief und träge wie ein Tier.  
he would stay deep and torpid as an animal.
> The result clause, subjunctive: Bliebe is the Konjunktiv II of bleiben, 'to remain'. It is the result half of the unreal condition begun by wenn … niederwürfen: 'even if we prostrated ourselves, he would remain'. Träge means 'sluggish, torpid, slow'.


**9** Denn das, was uns zu seinen Füßen reißt,  
For that which drags us down to his feet
> That which, a headless relative: Das, was is the headless relative construction 'that which, the thing that'. Was introduces the relative clause and reißt, from reißen, 'to tear, to drag', closes it at the end. Zu seinen Füßen means 'to his feet', with Füßen in the dative plural after zu.

**10** das kreist in ihm seit Millionen Jahren.  
has circled within him for millions of years.
> Seit plus the present tense: German uses the present tense with seit, 'since, for', for an action that began in the past and still continues: das kreist … seit Millionen Jahren means 'that has circled for millions of years', and still circles. English needs the perfect tense to say the same thing.

**11** Er, der vergißt, was wir erfahren,  
He, who forgets what we experience,
> A stem changing verb, old spelling: Vergißt is the third person present of vergessen, 'to forget', with the stem vowel shifting from e to i. It is printed with ß after a short vowel, the spelling standard before the 1996 reform, modern vergisst, and is kept here exactly as printed.

**12** und der erfahrt, was uns verweist.  
and who experiences what turns us away.
> To refer away, to dismiss: Verweisen can mean 'to refer or point elsewhere' and also 'to send away, to dismiss, to banish'. It is set here against erfahren, 'to come to know, to experience'. Rilke's erfahrt stands for the modern present erfährt.

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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.