# Der Blinde · The Blind Man

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

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

**1** Sieh, er geht und unterbricht die Stadt,  
Look, he walks and interrupts the city,
> Imperative addressing the reader: Sieh is the singular imperative of sehen, 'to see, to look', addressing the reader directly. unterbrechen means 'to interrupt, to break into'; the blind man cuts across the city rather than moving through it.

**2** die nicht ist auf seiner dunkeln Stelle,  
which is not there upon his darkened place,
> Archaic dative ending on dunkel: dunkeln is the dative singular feminine form of dunkel, 'dark', agreeing with Stelle, 'place', after auf, which here governs the dative as a fixed location. It is an older, poetically retained ending rather than a modern contraction.

**3** wie ein dunkler Sprung durch eine helle  
as a dark crack runs through a pale
> Noun meaning crack, not leap: der Sprung means both 'a leap' and 'a crack, a fissure' in something brittle like glass or china. Here it means the crack: the blind man is a dark crack running through the bright city as through a cup.

**4** Tasse geht. Und wie auf einem Blatt  
cup. And as upon a sheet of paper
> Noun split from its verb by a line break: Tasse, 'cup', completes the simile begun in the line before, durch eine helle Tasse geht, 'runs through a pale cup', splitting the noun and its verb across the line break. das Blatt means both 'leaf' and 'sheet of paper'.


**5** ist auf ihm der Widerschein der Dinge  
the reflection of things lies painted on him,
> Compound noun for reflected light: der Widerschein means 'reflection, reflected glow', literally a shining-back, from wider-, 'back, against', and Schein, 'shine'. der Dinge is genitive plural of das Ding, 'thing': 'the reflection of things'.

**6** aufgemalt; er nimmt ihn nicht hinein.  
painted on; he does not take it in.
> Separable verb for taking in: hineinnehmen means 'to take in, to draw inside', separable, with the prefix hinein splitting to the end of the clause: nimmt ... hinein. ihn refers back to der Widerschein, 'the reflection'.

**7** Nur sein Fühlen rührt sich, so als finge  
Only his feeling stirs, as though it caught
> Infinitive turned into a noun: Fühlen is the infinitive fühlen, 'to feel', used as a neuter noun, das Fühlen, 'feeling'. German freely turns verbs into nouns this way. sich rühren means 'to stir, to move'.

**8** es die Welt in kleinen Wellen ein:  
the world in little waves:
> Konjunktiv II of a separable verb: finge ... ein is the past subjunctive of the separable verb einfangen, 'to catch, to capture', required by als, 'as though', to mark the comparison as imagined. The prefix ein falls to the end of the clause, onto the next line.


**9** eine Stille, einen Widerstand–,  
a stillness, a resistance—,
> Compound noun for resistance: der Widerstand means 'resistance, opposition', what pushes back, from wider-, 'against', and stehen, 'to stand'. eine Stille and einen Widerstand are both accusative objects of finge ein from the line before.

**10** und dann scheint er wartend wen zu wählen:  
and then he seems, waiting, to choose someone:
> Participle plus indefinite pronoun: wartend is the present participle of warten, 'to wait', used adverbially, 'waiting'. wen is the accusative of wer, 'who', here meaning 'someone'. scheinen zu wählen means 'to seem to choose', using scheinen plus zu plus infinitive.

**11** hingegeben hebt er seine Hand,  
self-surrendered, he lifts his hand,
> Participle used adverbially for surrender: hingegeben is the past participle of sich hingeben, 'to give oneself over, to surrender oneself', used adverbially here to mean 'in self-surrender'. It describes how he lifts his hand.

**12** festlich fast, wie um sich zu vermählen.  
almost solemnly, as if to wed himself.
> Elevated verb for to wed: sich vermählen means 'to marry, to wed', an elevated, ceremonious word. um ... zu vermählen is a purpose clause, 'in order to wed'; with wie before it, 'as though to wed himself'. festlich means 'festive, solemn'.

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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.