# Der Dichter · The Poet

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Du entfernst dich von mir, du Stunde.  
You draw away from me, you hour.
> A reflexive verb of motion: sich entfernen means 'to move away, withdraw'. The reflexive pronoun dich belongs to the verb, not a separate object: du entfernst dich means 'you remove yourself, you move off'. The poet addresses the hour directly with the familiar du.

**2** Wunden schlägt mir dein Flügelschlag.  
Your wingbeat strikes me wounds.
> A fronted object, verb still second: German keeps the finite verb in second position even when something other than the subject opens the line. Here the object Wunden, 'wounds', is fronted; schlägt holds second place; the subject dein Flügelschlag follows.
> A compound noun for one wingbeat: Flügelschlag compounds Flügel, 'wing', and Schlag, 'beat, blow', naming a single stroke of a wing. It echoes schlägt, 'strikes', in the same line, so the wing that beats is also the thing that wounds.

**3** Allein: was soll ich mit meinem Munde?  
Alone: what am I to do with my mouth?
> sollen asking what to do: The modal sollen here is not obligation but bewilderment: was soll ich mit meinem Munde? means 'what am I supposed to do with my mouth?'. Munde is the dative of Mund with the old -e ending, kept here for the verse.

**4** mit meiner Nacht? mit meinem Tag?  
with my night? with my day?
> mit always takes the dative: The preposition mit, 'with', always governs the dative, which is why the possessives shift to meiner Nacht, feminine dative, and meinem Tag, masculine dative. The fragments continue the question of what to do with his nights and days.


**5** Ich habe keine Geliebte, kein Haus,  
I have no beloved, no house,
> kein negates a noun: German negates a noun with kein, 'not a, no', rather than nicht. It declines like the indefinite article ein: keine Geliebte, feminine, and kein Haus, neuter. Geliebte, 'beloved', is an adjectival noun, feminine here for a female beloved.

**6** keine Stelle, auf der ich lebe.  
no place on which I live.
> A relative clause sends the verb to the end: auf der ich lebe is a relative clause: der is the dative relative pronoun, feminine, after auf, referring back to Stelle, 'place'. In a subordinate clause the finite verb moves to the very end, so lebe, 'I live', closes the line.

**7** Alle Dinge, an die ich mich gebe,  
All things to which I give myself,
> To give oneself over to something: sich geben an etwas means 'to give oneself over, devote oneself to something'. an die is the relative pronoun governed by an, marking the direction of giving, pointing back to alle Dinge. The reflexive mich makes the poet himself the gift.

**8** werden reich und geben mich aus.  
grow rich and spend me away.
> A separable verb meaning to spend: ausgeben means 'to spend money, to expend'. It is separable: in a main clause the prefix aus splits off and goes to the end, leaving geben … aus wrapped around the object mich. The things the poet gives himself to grow rich and spend him.

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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.