# Das Gold · Gold

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

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

**1** Denk es wäre nicht: es hätte müssen  
Think it were not: it would have had to
> Imperative plus subjunctive for a supposition: Denk is the imperative of denken, 'to think'. Wäre is the past subjunctive of sein, marking a hypothesis rather than a fact. Rilke drops daß, so read it as Denk, [daß] es nicht wäre, 'imagine it were not.'
> Past subjunctive double infinitive: Hätte müssen is the past subjunctive of the modal müssen, 'to have to', built as a double infinitive. Its dependent infinitives gebären and niederschlagen arrive only in the next two lines, so the sentence stays open until then.

**2** endlich in den Bergen sich gebären  
at last give birth to itself in the mountains
> A reflexive added to give birth: Gebären means 'to give birth'. Rilke adds the reflexive sich, 'itself', so sich gebären is 'to bear itself'. In den Bergen is dative after in, marking where the birth happens: 'in the mountains.'

**3** und sich niederschlagen in den Flüssen  
and precipitate itself in the rivers
> A separable verb made reflexive: Niederschlagen is a separable verb meaning 'to settle out, precipitate', the sense of a substance dropping out of solution. With sich it becomes reflexive, 'to deposit itself'. In den Flüssen, 'in the rivers', is dative after in.

**4** aus dem Wollen, aus dem Gären  
out of the willing, out of the fermenting
> Infinitives used as nouns: Wollen, 'the willing', and Gären, 'the fermenting', are infinitives of wollen and gären used as neuter nouns. Aus takes the dative here: aus dem Wollen, aus dem Gären, 'out of the willing, out of the fermenting.'


**5** ihres Willens; aus der Zwangidee,  
of their will; out of the fixed idea,
> A delayed genitive: Ihres Willens, 'of their will', is a genitive phrase that completes aus dem Wollen from the line before, across the stanza break: 'out of the willing... of their will.' The finite construction is suspended until this word arrives.
> A compound for a fixed idea: A compound of Zwang, 'compulsion', and Idee, 'idea'. Die Zwangidee names a fixed, obsessive idea, an idée fixe. It stands in the dative after aus in der Zwangidee, 'out of the fixed idea.'

**6** daß ein Erz ist über allen Erzen.  
that one ore stands above all ores.
> Über with the dative for rank: Daß, the older spelling of dass, means 'that' and opens a clause. Über takes the dative allen Erzen here because it marks rank, not motion: 'above all ores'. Erz means 'ore', the raw metal.

**7** Weithin warfen sie aus ihren Herzen  
Far and wide they cast out of their hearts
> An adverb of great distance: Weithin is an adverb meaning 'far and wide, over a great distance'. Placed first in the clause, it pushes the finite verb warfen, past tense of werfen, 'to throw, cast', into second position, as German main clauses require.

**8** immer wieder Meroë  
again and again Meroë


**9** an den Rand der Lande, in den Äther,  
to the edge of the lands, into the ether,
> Accusative after an and in for motion: An den Rand and in den Äther both take the accusative because they mark motion toward a destination: 'to the edge' and 'into the ether'. Die Lande is an older plural of Land, 'the lands.'

**10** über das Erfahrene hinaus;  
out beyond all that was known;
> A split phrase for going beyond: Über ... hinaus is a split phrase meaning 'out beyond, past the limit of'. Its object das Erfahrene is erfahren, 'to experience', turned into a noun with das: 'that which has been experienced.'

**11** und die Söhne brachten manchmal später  
and the sons sometimes later brought

**12** das Verheißene der Väter,  
the promised thing of the fathers,
> Past participle used as a noun: Das Verheißene is the past participle of verheißen, 'to promise, foretell', used as a noun: 'the promised thing'. Der Väter is the genitive plural of Vater, 'father', so the whole phrase is 'the promised thing of the fathers.'

**13** abgehärtet und verhehrt, nach Haus,  
hardened and laid waste, home,
> Two past participles: Abgehärtet, from abhärten, 'to harden, toughen', means 'hardened, inured'. Verhehrt is the past participle of the rare verheeren, 'to ravage, lay waste'. Both describe what nach Haus, 'home', comes back as.


**14** wo es anwuchs eine Zeit, um dann  
where it grew on a while, only then
> Separable verb 'anwachsen': Anwachsen, 'to grow, accumulate', appears here as anwuchs, its simple past, in a subordinate clause opened by wo, 'where', so the prefix an- stays joined to the stem instead of splitting off. Eine Zeit, 'a while', is accusative marking duration.
> Purpose clause with um zu: Um points ahead to the infinitive fortzugehn in the next line, forming the um ... zu construction, 'in order to'. Dann, 'then', sits inside the bracket: 'in order then to go away.'

**15** fortzugehn von den an ihm Geschwächten,  
to depart from those it had weakened,
> A nominalized past participle: Geschwächten comes from schwächen, 'to weaken', turned into a plural noun meaning 'those weakened'. An ihm, 'by it', is dative and refers to the gold, naming what wore them down.

**16** die es niemals liebgewann.  
whom it never came to love.
> Simple past of a compound verb: Liebgewinnen, 'to grow fond of, come to love', appears as liebgewann, its simple past. Es, the gold, is the subject; die, referring to the people, is its accusative object: 'it never came to love them.'

**17** Nur (so sagt man) in den letzten Nächten  
Only (so they say) in the final nights
> The impersonal 'man': Man is the impersonal pronoun, 'one, people, they'. Sagt man, 'so they say', is a fixed phrase marking what follows as rumor rather than fact, set off in parentheses in the line.

**18** steht es auf und sieht sie an.  
it rises up and looks at them.
> Two separable verbs: Aufstehen, 'to rise, stand up', appears as steht ... auf, and ansehen, 'to look at', as sieht ... an: both split their prefixes to the end of the clause. Together: 'it rises up and looks at them.'

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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.