# Der Fremde · The Stranger

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

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

**1** Ohne Sorgfalt, was die Nächsten dächten,  
Without a care for what those nearest thought,
> Subjunctive reports others' thoughts: dächten is Konjunktiv II of denken, 'to think'. After Ohne Sorgfalt, was ..., 'without a care for what ...', the subjunctive marks the thoughts of others as reported, hypothetical content rather than fact.

**2** die er müde nicht mehr fragen hieß,  
whom, weary, he no longer bid to ask,
> Verb meaning to bid, plus bare infinitive: heissen here means 'to bid, tell someone to do something' and takes a bare infinitive without zu: die er ... fragen hiess, 'whom he bid ask'. hiess is its past tense.

**3** ging er wieder fort; verlor, verließ–.  
he went away again; lost, left behind—.
> Separable verb splits in the past: fortgehen, 'to go away, depart', is separable; in the finite past the particle fort splits off to the clause end: ging er wieder fort, 'he went away again'.

**4** Denn er hing an solchen Reisenächten  
For he was bound to nights of travel like these
> Verb governs the dative: an etwas hängen means 'to be attached to, cling to, be devoted to' something, and it governs the dative: hing an solchen Reisenächten, 'was attached to such nights of travel'. hing is the past of hängen.


**5** anders als an jeder Liebesnacht.  
otherwise than to any night of love.
> Clause completed across a stanza break: The clause begun at the end of stanza 1, er hing an solchen Reisenächten, completes only here: anders als an jeder Liebesnacht, 'otherwise than to any night of love'. anders als means 'otherwise than, different from'.

**6** Wunderbare hatte er durchwacht,  
Wondrous ones he had watched the whole night through,
> Inseparable prefix means all the way through: durchwachen means 'to stay awake through, spend a night wakeful'. The inseparable prefix durch- here means 'all the way through': hatte er durchwacht, 'he had lain awake through them'.

**7** die mit starken Sternen überzogen  
which, overlaid with mighty stars,
> Past participle for a coated surface: überzogen is the past participle of überziehen, 'to cover over, coat, overlay'. mit starken Sternen überzogen means 'overlaid with mighty stars', describing the nights as a surface coated in starlight.

**8** enge Fernen auseinanderbogen  
bent narrow distances apart
> Separable verb stays joined in a relative clause: auseinanderbiegen, 'to bend apart, force open', is separable, but here it stays joined as auseinanderbogen because it closes the relative clause. Its object, enge Fernen, 'narrow distances', sits earlier in the clause.

**9** und sich wandelten wie eine Schlacht;  
and transformed themselves like a battle;
> Reflexive verb requires sich: sich wandeln is the reflexive 'to change, transform oneself'; the reflexive pronoun sich is required. sich wandelten wie eine Schlacht means 'transformed themselves like a battle'.


**10** andre, die mit in den Mond gestreuten  
others, which with villages strewn into the moon,
> Participle phrase with accusative direction: gestreut is the participle of streuen, 'to scatter, strew'; mit in den Mond gestreuten Dörfern reads 'with villages scattered into the moonlight'. The accusative in den Mond marks direction.

**11** Dörfern, wie mit hingehaltnen Beuten,  
as though with spoils held out,
> Syncopated participle for the meter: hingehaltnen is the syncopated participle of hinhalten, 'to hold out, proffer', with the -e- dropped for the meter. Beute means 'booty, spoils, prey'.

**12** sich ergaben, oder durch geschonte  
gave themselves up, or through spared
> Reflexive verb for surrender: sich ergeben is the reflexive 'to surrender, give oneself up, yield'. die ... sich ergaben means 'which gave themselves up', the relative clause's verb, completing a thought begun two lines earlier.

**13** Parke graue Edelsitze zeigten,  
parks revealed grey manor seats,
> Compound noun for a manor house: der Edelsitz is a noble's country seat or manor house, from edel, 'noble', and Sitz, 'seat, residence'. graue Edelsitze, 'grey manor seats', are glimpsed durch geschonte Parke, 'through spared parks'.

**14** die er gerne in dem hingeneigten  
which he gladly, in his tilted

**15** Haupte einen Augenblick bewohnte,  
head, inhabited for a moment,
> Verb takes an unusual dative location: bewohnen, 'to dwell in, inhabit', normally takes an accusative object, here found earlier as die Edelsitze, die er ... bewohnte. The dative in dem hingeneigten Haupte, 'in his tilted head', marks where the memory briefly settled.

**16** tiefer wissend, daß man nirgends bleibt;  
knowing more deeply that one stays nowhere;
> Impersonal man with a negated verb: man is the impersonal 'one, people'; daß man nirgends bleibt means 'that one stays nowhere'. daß with ß here is the pre-1996 spelling of the conjunction dass.

**17** und schon sah er bei dem nächsten Biegen  
and already at the next bend he saw
> Infinitive made into a noun: Biegen is the infinitive biegen, 'to bend, turn', made into a neuter noun, 'the bend, the turn in the road'. bei dem nächsten Biegen means 'at the next bend'.

**18** wieder Wege, Brücken, Länder liegen  
again roads, bridges, lands lie spread
> Verb of perception with bare infinitive: sehen, 'to see', takes a bare infinitive for perceived action: sah er ... liegen means 'he saw ... lie', that is, lying spread out. No zu is used, as with other perception verbs.

**19** bis an Städte, die man übertreibt.  
as far as cities one makes too much of.
> Verb for exaggeration: übertreiben means 'to exaggerate, overdo, make too much of'. Städte, die man übertreibt means 'cities that one overstates', the far towns that loom larger in anticipation than in fact.


**20** Und dies alles immer unbegehrend  
And to let all this go, always desiring nothing,
> Negated present participle: unbegehrend is a negated present participle: un- plus begehrend, from begehren, 'to desire, covet', giving 'not desiring, coveting nothing'. It is used adverbially, describing how he lets the world pass.

**21** hinzulassen, schien ihm mehr als seines  
seemed to him more than the joy, the having,
> zu-infinitive of a separable verb: hinzulassen is the zu-infinitive of the separable hinlassen, 'to let go, let pass', with zu tucked between particle and stem. dies alles ... hinzulassen, 'to let all this go', is the subject of the sentence.

**22** Lebens Lust, Besitz und Ruhm.  
and the fame of his life.
> Genitive placed before its nouns: seines Lebens is the genitive 'of his life', placed before its nouns in older, elevated word order: seines Lebens Lust, Besitz und Ruhm, 'the joy, possession and fame of his life'.

**23** Doch auf fremden Plätzen war ihm eines  
Yet in foreign squares, the worn hollow of one
> Dative marks the one who perceives: The dative ihm, 'to him', marks the one to whom something seems a certain way: war ihm ... wie ein Eigentum means 'was to him like a possession'. The subject is suspended across several lines.

**24** täglich ausgetretnen Brunnensteines  
daily-trodden well-stone
> Syncopated participle from treading: ausgetreten is the participle of austreten, 'to wear down by treading'; täglich ausgetretnen, 'daily worn smooth', has the syncopated ending used for the meter.

**25** Mulde manchmal wie ein Eigentum.  
felt to him sometimes like a thing he owned.
> Two nouns close the sentence: die Mulde is a hollow, trough, or worn depression, here the dip ground into a stone by years of footsteps. das Eigentum is 'property, possession, something owned'.

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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.