# Der Junggeselle · The Bachelor

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

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

**1** Lampe auf den verlassenen Papieren,  
A lamp upon the abandoned papers,
> Past participle used as adjective: verlassenen is the past participle of verlassen, 'to leave, to abandon', used here as an adjective meaning 'abandoned'. It takes the dative plural ending -en to agree with Papieren after den.

**2** und ringsum Nacht bis weit hinein ins Holz  
and all around night, far in into the wood
> Motion inward, away from speaker: hinein means 'into there', motion inward and away from the speaker, unlike herein, motion toward the speaker. bis weit hinein ins Holz means 'far in, into the wood [of the cabinets]'.

**3** der Schränke. Und er konnte sich verlieren  
of the cabinets. And he could lose himself
> A reflexive verb: sich verlieren means 'to lose oneself, to get lost'. sich is the reflexive pronoun, the object of the action turned back on the subject er. Note that der Schränke, 'of the cabinets', belongs to the previous line; the clause break falls mid-line.

**4** an sein Geschlecht, das nun mit ihm zerschmolz;  
in his lineage, which now melted away with him;
> Family line, not gender: Geschlecht can mean 'gender' or 'sex', but here it carries the older sense of 'lineage, family line'. sein Geschlecht, 'his lineage', is what zerschmolz, 'melted away', together with him.

**5** ihm schien, je mehr er las, er hätte ihren,  
it seemed to him, the more he read, that he had theirs,
> Comparative sets up a proportion: je mehr er las means 'the more he read'. The je plus comparative pattern sets up a proportion, usually completed by desto or umso. er hätte uses hätte, the subjunctive of haben, because the clause reports only what seemed to be so.

**6** sie aber hatten alle seinen Stolz.  
but they all had his pride.
> A noun meaning pride: Stolz means 'pride'. It is accusative singular, object of hatten, 'had': sie ... hatten ... seinen Stolz, 'they had his pride'.


**7** Hochmütig steiften sich die leeren Stühle  
Haughtily the empty chairs stiffened themselves
> A reflexive verb, stiffened: steiften sich means 'stiffened themselves', from steifen, 'to stiffen', with the reflexive pronoun sich. Hochmütig, 'haughtily', and die leeren Stühle, 'the empty chairs', are the subject performing the reflexive action.

**8** die Wand entlang, und lauter Selbstgefühle  
along the wall, and sheer self-regard
> Preposition follows its noun: entlang, 'along', is a preposition that here follows its noun rather than preceding it: die Wand entlang means 'along the wall'. This word order is normal for entlang with the accusative.

**9** machten sich schläfernd in den Möbeln breit;  
spread themselves drowsily through the furniture;
> An idiom, to spread out: sich breitmachen literally means 'to make oneself broad', an idiom for 'to spread out, to sprawl'. machten sich ... breit splits the idiom apart: machten is the verb, sich the reflexive pronoun, breit the predicate adjective at the end.

**10** von oben goß sich Nacht auf die Pendüle,  
from above the night poured itself onto the pendulum clock,
> A French loanword for clock: Pendüle means 'pendulum clock', a French loanword. It is accusative singular after auf: die Pendüle, 'onto the [pendulum] clock'.

**11** und zitternd rann aus ihrer goldnen Mühle,  
and trembling there ran out of its golden mill,
> Simple past of to flow: rann is the simple past, third-person singular, of rinnen, 'to run, to trickle, to flow'. zitternd modifies the same subject, 'shaking', and aus ihrer goldnen Mühle means 'out of its golden mill'.

**12** ganz fein gemahlen, seine Zeit.  
ground entirely fine, his time.
> Ground fine, like grain: gemahlen is the past participle of mahlen, 'to grind', as grain is ground in a mill. ganz fein gemahlen means 'ground entirely fine', describing seine Zeit, 'his time'.


**13** Er nahm sie nicht. Um fiebernd unter jenen,  
He did not take them. To drag away, feverishly, among those,
> Opening an in-order-to clause: Um here begins an um ... zu construction, 'in order to', completed later by wegzuzerrn. The infinitive clause explains the unstated purpose behind the sentence before it, Er nahm sie nicht.

**14** als zöge er die Laken ihrer Leiber,  
as if he were pulling the sheets from their bodies,
> Subjunctive for an imagined act: als zöge er uses zöge, the Konjunktiv II (subjunctive) of ziehen, 'to pull'. als plus the subjunctive means 'as though', describing an imagined action rather than a real one: 'as though he were pulling the sheets'.

**15** andre Zeiten wegzuzerrn.  
to wrench other ages away.
> Infinitive completes a purpose clause: wegzuzerrn is the infinitive of wegzerren, 'to wrench away, to drag off', with zu inserted for the infinitive construction begun by Um two lines above. andre Zeiten wegzuzerrn means 'to wrench other ages away'.

**16** Bis er ins Flüstern kam; (was war ihm fern?)  
Until he fell to whispering; (what was far from him?)
> An idiom, to fall to whispering: ins Flüstern kommen is an idiom meaning 'to fall to whispering, to start whispering'. ins contracts in plus das; kam is the simple past of kommen, 'to come'.

**17** Er lobte einen dieser Briefeschreiber,  
He praised one of these letter-writers,
> One of these, genitive plural: Briefeschreiber, 'letter-writers', is genitive plural after dieser in the phrase einen dieser Briefeschreiber, 'one of these letter-writers'. This construction uses the genitive-plural form dieser even though einen is singular, since the noun names the group being drawn from.

**18** als sei der Brief an ihn: wie du mich kennst;  
as if the letter were to him: how well you know me;
> Subjunctive marking an unreal claim: als sei der Brief uses sei, the Konjunktiv I (subjunctive) of sein, 'to be'. als plus the subjunctive again means 'as though': 'as though the letter were addressed to him'.

**19** und klopfte lustig auf die Seitenlehnen.  
and tapped merrily on the armrests.
> Compound noun for armrests: Seitenlehnen means 'armrests', literally 'side-rests', a compound of Seite, 'side', and Lehne, 'rest, support'. It is accusative plural after auf die, 'on the'.

**20** Der Spiegel aber, innen unbegrenzter,  
But the mirror, more boundless within,
> Comparative form of unbegrenzt: unbegrenzter is the comparative of unbegrenzt, 'boundless, unlimited', used adverbially: innen unbegrenzter means 'more boundless within'. unbegrenzt itself combines un-, the negating prefix, with begrenzt, 'bounded'.

**21** ließ leise einen Vorhang aus, ein Fenster–:  
softly let out a curtain, a window —:
> Separable verb, lassen ... aus: auslassen means 'to let out, to leave out'. ließ ... aus splits the separable verb across the clause: ließ is the finite verb, aus the stranded prefix at the end, 'let out a curtain, a window'.

**22** denn dorten stand, fast fertig, das Gespenst.  
for there stood, almost finished, the ghost.
> The noun for a ghost: Gespenst means 'ghost, apparition'. dorten is an archaic or poetic form of dort, 'there'. denn dorten stand ... das Gespenst means 'for there stood ... the ghost'.

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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.