# Der aussätzige König · The Leprous King

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

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

**1** Da trat auf seiner Stirn der Aussatz aus  
Then on his brow the leprosy broke out
> Separable verb austreten: austreten, 'to break out, to emerge', is separable: trat, the preterite of treten, carries its prefix aus to the end of the clause. auf seiner Stirn means 'on his brow', naming where the leprosy appeared.
> Noun der Aussatz: Aussatz means 'leprosy'. It is the nominative subject of the clause, with trat ... aus, 'broke out', as its verb. auf seiner Stirn, 'on his brow', marks where it appeared.

**2** und stand auf einmal unter seiner Krone,  
and all at once stood beneath his crown,
> Fixed phrase auf einmal: auf einmal means 'all at once, suddenly'. und stand auf einmal unter seiner Krone means 'and suddenly stood beneath his crown'. unter here marks position beneath the crown he still wore.

**3** als war er König über allen Graus,  
as though he were king over all horror,
> Noun der Graus: Graus means 'horror, dread'. über allen Graus means 'over all horror', with Graus in the accusative after über, 'over'. als war er König means 'as though he were king', als introducing an unreal comparison.

**4** der in die andern fuhr, die fassungsohne  
that struck into the others, who stunned, beyond composure,
> Verb fahren with in: fuhr is the preterite of fahren, here used with in plus accusative to mean 'struck into, shot into'. der in die andern fuhr means 'that struck into the others'. der is the relative pronoun, subject of fuhr.
> Adjective fassungsohne: fassungsohne is built from Fassung, 'composure', and ohne, 'without', meaning 'without composure, stunned'. die fassungsohne ... hinstarrten, continuing into the next line, describes those struck by what they saw.


**5** hinstarrten nach dem furchtbaren Vollzug  
stared on toward the terrible reckoning
> Separable verb hinstarren: hinstarrten is the past tense of hinstarren, 'to stare fixedly, to stare on', built from hin, marking direction away from the speaker, and starren, 'to stare'. nach dem ... Vollzug means 'toward the reckoning', the thing they stared at.
> Noun der Vollzug: Vollzug means 'execution, carrying out, reckoning', from vollziehen, 'to carry out, to execute'. dem furchtbaren Vollzug is dative after nach, 'toward the terrible reckoning', naming the dreadful event unfolding before them.

**6** an jenem, welcher, schmal wie ein Verschnürter,  
upon that one who, narrow as a man bound in cords,
> Demonstrative jenem, dative: jenem is the dative singular of jener, 'that one', referring to a person, object of the preposition an, 'upon'. welcher, 'who', begins the relative clause describing him, continuing with schmal wie ein Verschnürter, 'narrow as a bound man'.
> Nominalized participle Verschnürter: Verschnürter is the past participle of verschnüren, 'to bind, to tie up with cord', used as a noun meaning 'a bound man'. wie ein Verschnürter compares him to someone tied up, describing how narrow and constrained he looks.

**7** erwartete, daß einer nach ihm schlug;  
awaited that someone would strike at him;
> erwartete, daß plus verb: erwartete is the preterite of erwarten, 'to await, to expect'. After daß, schlug reports what he expected as something that might really happen: daß einer nach ihm schlug means 'that someone would strike at him'.

**8** doch noch war keiner Manns genug:  
yet none was yet man enough:
> Genitive Manns with genug: Manns genug uses the old genitive of Mann, 'man', with genug, 'enough': 'man enough'. This genitive-plus-genug pattern is an older construction, now more often replaced by Mann genug without the ending.

**9** als machte ihn nur immer unberührter  
as though it only made him ever more untouchable
> als plus verb machte: als here introduces an unreal comparison, 'as though'. machte, though it looks like an ordinary preterite of machen, 'to make', functions here in the older style as a past subjunctive: 'as though it made him'.
> Comparative unberührter: unberührter is the comparative of unberührt, 'untouched, untouchable', itself built from berühren, 'to touch', with the negative prefix un-. immer unberührter means 'ever more untouchable', immer intensifying the comparative.

**10** die neue Würde, die sich übertrug.  
the new dignity that was transmitting itself.
> Reflexive verb übertragen: sich übertragen means 'to transmit itself, to pass over'. die sich übertrug means 'that was transmitting itself', with die neue Würde, 'the new dignity', as its subject. übertrug is the preterite of übertragen.

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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.