# Dame auf einem Balkon · Lady on a Balcony

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

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/dame-auf-einem-balkon. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/dame-auf-einem-balkon.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/<line id>.m4a.

**1** Plötzlich tritt sie, in den Wind gehüllt,  
Suddenly she steps out, wrapped in the wind,
> hüllen in plus accusative: hüllen means 'to wrap, to swathe'; the past participle gehüllt describes her passively, 'wrapped, enveloped'. The verb takes in plus the accusative, den Wind, the case of motion into something, so in den Wind gehüllt means 'wrapped in the wind'.

**2** licht in Lichtes, wie herausgegriffen,  
bright into brightness, as if singled out,
> A separable verb for singling out: herausgreifen means 'to pick, single out from among others'; it is separable, heraus plus greifen, 'to reach out and seize'. The past participle herausgegriffen wedges the prefix before the stem, describing her as picked out of the light.

**3** während jetzt die Stube wie geschliffen  
while now the room, as if cut and polished,
> die Stube and a jeweler's verb: die Stube is an old, homely word for a 'parlour, living room'. schleifen means 'to grind, cut, polish', as a gem is cut; geschliffen is its past participle, giving the dim room behind her a worked, faceted look.
> A conjunction holding its verb: während means 'while, as' and sends its verb to the end of the clause. The finite verb füllt does not arrive until the next line, so the clause während jetzt die Stube ... die Türe füllt is held open across the stanza break.

**4** hinter ihr die Türe füllt  
fills the doorway behind her


**5** dunkel wie der Grund einer Kamee,  
dark as the ground of a cameo
> A cameo's dark ground: eine Kamee is a 'cameo', a gem or shell carved in relief, its pale figure standing against a darker layer. der Grund here means the 'ground, background'. The comparison recasts the scene as carved jewellery, with her as the raised figure.

**6** die ein Schimmern durchläßt durch die Ränder;  
that lets a shimmer pass through at its edges;
> A separable verb inside a relative clause: durchlassen means 'to let through, to let pass'; it is separable, durch plus lassen. Here the prefix stays attached because the verb sits inside a relative clause introduced by die, which pushes the verb to the end: die ... durchläßt means 'which lets through'.
> Rand and its plural: der Rand means 'edge, rim, margin'; its plural takes an umlaut, die Ränder. durch die Ränder means 'through the edges', the accusative plural object of durch.

**7** und du meinst, der Abend war nicht, ehe  
and you feel the evening did not exist before
> A literary word for before: ehe is a literary conjunction meaning 'before'; everyday German prefers bevor. It opens a subordinate clause whose verb, sie heraustrat, is held back to the next stanza: 'the evening did not exist before she stepped out'.

**8** sie heraustrat, um auf das Geländer  
she stepped out, in order, on the railing,
> A separable verb held to the end: heraustreten means 'to step out, to emerge'; it is separable, heraus plus treten. In this subordinate clause after ehe the prefix stays joined and the whole verb falls to the end. The line also opens an um ... zu purpose clause completed two lines later.


**9** noch ein wenig von sich fortzulegen,  
to lay a little more of herself aside,
> A purpose clause finishing here: This completes the um ... zu purpose construction begun in the previous stanza: 'in order to lay aside'. fortlegen, 'to lay away, set aside', is separable, and in the zu-infinitive the zu slips between prefix and stem, fort-zu-legen.

**10** noch die Hände,–um ganz leicht zu sein:  
her hands as well,—to be entirely light:
> A second purpose clause: A fresh um ... zu clause states the aim of the gesture: um ganz leicht zu sein means 'in order to be entirely light'. ganz is an adverb modifying the adjective leicht, 'light'.

**11** wie dem Himmel von den Häuserreihn  
as if held out to the sky by the rows of houses,
> Rows of houses, clipped for meter: die Häuserreihen, here shortened to Häuserreihn for the meter, means 'the rows of houses', from Haus plus Reihe, 'row'. dem Himmel is dative, 'to the sky', the object of hingereicht in the next line.

**12** hingereicht, von allem zu bewegen.  
passed up, to be stirred by anything at all.
> hinreichen, to hand over: hinreichen means 'to hand, pass something over to'; hingereicht is its past participle, 'handed over, held out'. von allem zu bewegen, 'to be moved by anything at all', leaves her so weightless the faintest stir of air could sway her.

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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.