# Der Balkon · The Balcony

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

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

**1** Von der Enge, oben, des Balkones  
From the narrowness, above, of the balcony,
> Abstract noun from eng: Enge is the abstract noun from eng, 'narrow'. It means 'narrowness, a cramped space'. Here von der Enge names the tight space at the top of the balcony, the dative object of von.
> Genitive ending -es: des Balkones is the genitive of der Balkon, 'of the balcony'. The ending -es is an older variant of plain -s. The genitive phrase closes the line, after the adverb oben, 'above'.

**2** angeordnet wie von einem Maler  
arranged as if by a painter
> Separable verb as participle: anordnen means 'to arrange, set in order'; it is separable, an plus ordnen. Its past participle inserts ge- after the prefix, angeordnet, 'arranged'. Here it describes the figures on the balcony as arranged by an unnamed painter.

**3** und gebunden wie zu einem Strauß  
and bound as into a bouquet
> A bunch of flowers: Strauß means 'a bouquet, a bunch of flowers'. gebunden wie zu einem Strauß means 'bound as into a bouquet', describing how the figures are gathered together on the balcony.

**4** alternder Gesichter und ovaler,  
of aging faces, and of oval ones,
> Genitive plural after Strauß: alternder Gesichter is genitive plural, 'of aging faces', depending on Strauß in the line before. alternd is the present participle of altern, 'to grow old', used as an adjective. und ovaler extends the same genitive to 'oval ones'.

**5** klar im Abend, sehn sie idealer,  
clear in the evening, they look more ideal,
> Separable verb split across lines: aussehen means 'to look, appear' and is separable. The finite verb sehn, a clipped form of sehen, stands here, but its prefix aus does not arrive until the end of the next line. sehn sie idealer aus means 'they look more ideal'.

**6** rührender und wie für immer aus.  
more touching, and as if forever.
> Separable prefix lands here: This aus completes aussehen, begun with sehn in the line before: sehn sie aus, 'they look'. The comparatives idealer and rührender, 'more ideal, more touching', and the phrase wie für immer, 'forever', all depend on this verb.


**7** Diese aneinander angelehnten  
These sisters leaning one against another,
> Adverb plus adjectival participle: aneinander means 'against one another'; anlehnen, separable, is 'to lean against'. angelehnten is its past participle used as an adjective, agreeing with Schwestern in the next line, 'these sisters leaning against one another'.

**8** Schwestern, die, als ob sie sich von weit  
sisters who, as if from afar
> Subjunctive of comparison: als ob means 'as though' and introduces an unreal comparison, so its verb takes the subjunctive, here sehnten two lines down. The sentence reads 'as though they longed for one another from afar'. The clause opened here completes only at sehnten.

**9** ohne Aussicht nacheinander sehnten,  
with no prospect, longed for one another,
> Subjunctive of sich sehnen: sich sehnen nach means 'to long for'. sehnten is Konjunktiv II, past subjunctive, governed by als ob above, so it reads 'as though they longed'. nacheinander means 'for one another'; ohne Aussicht means 'without prospect'.

**10** lehnen, Einsamkeit an Einsamkeit;  
lean, loneliness against loneliness;
> Noun repeated across a preposition: Einsamkeit means 'loneliness'. lehnen, 'to lean', is now the main verb of the sentence begun with Diese Schwestern. The repeated noun with an, 'against', gives Einsamkeit an Einsamkeit, 'loneliness against loneliness'.


**11** und der Bruder mit dem feierlichen  
and the brother with the solemn

**12** Schweigen, zugeschlossen, voll Geschick,  
silence, closed shut, full of fate,
> Zuschließen and Geschick: zuschließen means 'to lock, to shut'; zugeschlossen describes the brother as 'locked up, shut in'. Geschick means 'fate, destiny' here rather than its other sense 'skill'. voll Geschick reads 'full of fate'.

**13** doch von einem sanften Augenblick  
yet by a gentle moment

**14** mit der Mutter unbemerkt verglichen;  
imperceptibly likened to the mother;
> Dative-governing verb, passive participle: vergleichen mit means 'to compare, to liken to' and takes the dative, mit der Mutter, 'to the mother'. verglichen is its past participle, used passively here, 'likened to the mother'. unbemerkt means 'imperceptibly'.


**15** und dazwischen, abgelebt und länglich,  
and in between, worn out and elongated,
> Worn out by living: abgelebt, literally 'lived off, used up', is the participle of ableben, here meaning 'worn out by living, spent'. länglich means 'elongated, longish'. dazwischen, 'in between', places this figure among the others in the group.

**16** längst mit keinem mehr verwandt,  
long since kin to no one,
> Verwandt mit plus double negative: verwandt mit means 'related to, kin to' and governs the dative. mit keinem mehr means 'with no one anymore': kein negates and mehr adds 'any longer'. längst, 'long since', intensifies the phrase 'long since related to no one'.

**17** einer Greisin Maske, unzugänglich,  
an old woman's mask, unapproachable,
> Genitive placed before its noun: die Greisin means 'an aged woman, a crone'. einer Greisin Maske is genitive, 'an old woman's mask', with the genitive einer Greisin placed before its noun Maske, an older order. unzugänglich means 'inaccessible, unapproachable'.

**18** wie im Fallen von der einen Hand  
as if in falling, by the one hand

**19** aufgehalten, während eine zweite,  
held up, while a second,
> Participle suspended across lines: aufhalten, separable, means 'to stop, to hold back'. The participle aufgehalten opens this line but belongs with the previous line's phrase, 'held up by the one hand'. während, 'while', then opens a contrast with a second hand.

**20** welkere, als ob sie weitergleite,  
a more withered one, as if it slid further down,
> Subjunctive of weitergleiten: welkere is the comparative of welk, 'withered', so 'a more withered one'. weitergleiten, separable, means 'to glide onward'. weitergleite is Konjunktiv I after als ob, giving 'as though it slid further'.

**21** unten vor den Kleidern hängt zur Seite  
hangs to one side, below, before the clothes
> Finite verb with stacked adverbs: hängen, 'to hang', is the finite verb of this clause. zur Seite means 'to the side'; unten means 'below' and vor den Kleidern means 'before the clothes'. All three depend on hängt, stacking the hand's position precisely.


**22** von dem Kinder-Angesicht,  
of the child's countenance,
> A solemn word for face: Angesicht is an elevated, literary word for 'face, countenance', more formal than the everyday Gesicht. Kinder-Angesicht means 'child's countenance'. The preposition von reaches back to hängt vor den Kleidern across the stanza break.

**23** das das Letzte ist, versucht, verblichen,  
which is the last one, tentative, faded,
> Two different words for das: The two instances of das here are different words. The first is a relative pronoun, 'which'; the second is the article in das Letzte, 'the last one'. versucht here means 'tentative', and verblichen means 'faded, pale'.

**24** von den Stäben wieder durchgestrichen  
by the railings struck through again,
> Struck through, like writing: die Stäbe are the 'bars, rods' of the balcony railing. durchstreichen means 'to strike through, cross out'; durchgestrichen is its past participle. von den Stäben wieder durchgestrichen means 'struck through again by the railings'.

**25** wie noch unbestimmbar, wie noch nicht.  
as still indeterminable, as not yet.
> Undefinable and not yet: unbestimmbar means 'undefinable, impossible to determine', built from bestimmen, 'to determine', plus un-...-bar, 'un-...-able'. wie noch nicht means 'as not yet'. Both phrases describe the child's face as still unfixed.

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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.