{"work":{"slug":"rilke","title":{"source":"Neue Gedichte","translated":"New Poems"},"author":"Rainer Maria Rilke","language":"German","languageCode":"de","url":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke"},"unit":{"kind":"poem","number":null,"id":"der-koenig-von-muenster","title":{"source":"Der König von Münster","translated":"The King of Münster"},"section":"New Poems: The Other Part","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/der-koenig-von-muenster","lines":12},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/legende-von-den-drei-lebendigen-und-den-drei-toten","next":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/totentanz","license":"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.","audioBase":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/","lines":[{"number":1,"label":"1","id":"der-koenig-von-muenster-s1-l1","source":"Der König war geschoren;","translation":"The king had been shorn;","stanza":1,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-koenig-von-muenster-s1-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"geschoren","title":"Past participle of scheren","body":"scheren means to shear or shave, as one shears a sheep. geschoren is its strong past participle. war geschoren reads as a passive-like past, 'had been shorn', describing the king's head clipped bare."}],"words":[{"surface":"Der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on König","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"König","lemma":"König","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on war","gloss":"king"},{"surface":"war","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"had been"},{"surface":"geschoren","lemma":"scheren","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"depends on war","gloss":"shorn"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"der-koenig-von-muenster-s1-l2","source":"nun ging ihm die Krone zu weit","translation":"now the crown went too wide for him","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-koenig-von-muenster-s1-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"ging ihm","title":"Dative marks who is affected","body":"ihm is dative, 'to him', not the subject of the sentence. die Krone, 'the crown', is the subject of ging, past of gehen. ging ihm die Krone zu weit means the crown became too wide for him."}],"words":[{"surface":"nun","lemma":"nun","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on ging","gloss":"now"},{"surface":"ging","lemma":"gehen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"went"},{"surface":"ihm","lemma":"er","morphology":"pronoun, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on ging","gloss":"for him"},{"surface":"die","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Krone","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Krone","lemma":"Krone","morphology":"noun, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"subject of ging","gloss":"crown"},{"surface":"zu","lemma":"zu","morphology":"particle","role":"depends on weit","gloss":"too"},{"surface":"weit","lemma":"weit","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on ging","gloss":"wide"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"der-koenig-von-muenster-s1-l3","source":"und bog ein wenig die Ohren,","translation":"and bent his ears a little,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-koenig-von-muenster-s1-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"bog","title":"Strong past of biegen","body":"biegen, 'to bend', is a strong verb: past bog, participle gebogen. The subject carried over from the line before is die Krone, so it is the crown that bog ein wenig die Ohren, 'bent his ears a little'."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on bog","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"bog","lemma":"biegen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"bent"},{"surface":"ein","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner","role":"depends on wenig (idiom 'ein wenig')","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"wenig","lemma":"wenig","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on bog","gloss":"little"},{"surface":"die","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, neuter, plural","role":"depends on Ohren","gloss":"his","note":"German uses the definite article ('die Ohren') where English uses a possessive ('his ears')."},{"surface":"Ohren","lemma":"Ohr","morphology":"noun, accusative, neuter, plural","role":"depends on bog","gloss":"ears"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"der-koenig-von-muenster-s1-l4","source":"in die von Zeit zu Zeit","translation":"into which, from time to time,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-koenig-von-muenster-s1-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"in die","title":"Relative pronoun after a preposition","body":"die is a relative pronoun referring back to die Ohren, 'the ears'. in takes the accusative because something moves into them. The sentence continues across the stanza break, in die von Zeit zu Zeit meaning 'into which, from time to time'."}],"words":[{"surface":"in","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"into"},{"surface":"die","lemma":"der","morphology":"relative pronoun, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on in","gloss":"which"},{"surface":"von","lemma":"von","morphology":"preposition","role":"head of the idiom 'von Zeit zu Zeit'","gloss":"from"},{"surface":"Zeit","lemma":"Zeit","morphology":"noun, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on von","gloss":"time"},{"surface":"zu","lemma":"zu","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on von","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"Zeit","lemma":"Zeit","morphology":"noun, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on zu","gloss":"time"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"der-koenig-von-muenster-s2-l1","source":"gehässiges Gelärme","translation":"spiteful clamour","stanza":2,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-koenig-von-muenster-s2-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Gelärme","title":"The Ge- collective noun","body":"The prefix Ge-, often with an -e ending, forms a noun naming a continuous mass of something. Lärm, 'noise', becomes Gelärme, a din or racket. gehässiges means 'spiteful', giving gehässiges Gelärme, 'spiteful clamour'."}],"words":[{"surface":"gehässiges","lemma":"gehässig","morphology":"adjective, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Gelärme","gloss":"spiteful"},{"surface":"Gelärme","lemma":"Gelärme","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"clamour"}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"der-koenig-von-muenster-s2-l2","source":"aus Hungermäulern fand.","translation":"found its way out of hungry mouths.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-koenig-von-muenster-s2-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Hungermäulern","title":"A coined compound, dative plural","body":"Hungermäulern joins Hunger, 'hunger', with Mäuler, the plural of Maul, an animal's mouth used contemptuously for a human's. The -n ending marks dative plural after aus. fand, past of finden, completes the sentence begun two lines earlier."}],"words":[{"surface":"aus","lemma":"aus","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on fand","gloss":"out of"},{"surface":"Hungermäulern","lemma":"Hungermaul","morphology":"noun, dative, neuter, plural","role":"depends on aus","gloss":"hungry mouths"},{"surface":"fand","lemma":"finden","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"found its way"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"der-koenig-von-muenster-s2-l3","source":"Er saß, von wegen der Wärme,","translation":"He sat, on account of the warmth,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-koenig-von-muenster-s2-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"von wegen der Wärme","title":"von wegen takes the genitive","body":"von wegen means 'because of, on account of' and governs the genitive, here der Wärme, genitive of die Wärme, 'warmth'. Er saß, von wegen der Wärme reads 'he sat, on account of the warmth'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Er","lemma":"er","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on saß","gloss":"He"},{"surface":"saß","lemma":"sitzen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"sat"},{"surface":"von","lemma":"von","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on saß","gloss":"on account","note":"'von wegen' is an emphatic, slightly colloquial way of saying 'wegen' (because of, on account of)."},{"surface":"wegen","lemma":"wegen","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on von","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, genitive, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Wärme","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Wärme","lemma":"Wärme","morphology":"noun, genitive, feminine, singular","role":"depends on wegen","gloss":"warmth"}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"der-koenig-von-muenster-s2-l4","source":"auf seiner rechten Hand,","translation":"upon his right hand,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-koenig-von-muenster-s2-l4.m4a","notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"auf","lemma":"auf","morphology":"preposition","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"upon"},{"surface":"seiner","lemma":"sein","morphology":"determiner, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Hand","gloss":"his"},{"surface":"rechten","lemma":"rechter","morphology":"adjective, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Hand","gloss":"right"},{"surface":"Hand","lemma":"Hand","morphology":"noun, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on auf","gloss":"hand"}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"der-koenig-von-muenster-s3-l1","source":"mürrisch und schwergesäßig.","translation":"sullen and heavy-rumped.","stanza":3,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-koenig-von-muenster-s3-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"schwergesäßig","title":"A compound adjective coinage","body":"schwergesäßig is not a standard word. It joins schwer, 'heavy', with Gesäß, 'backside', plus the adjective ending -ig, meaning 'heavy in the seat'. mürrisch means 'sullen', giving 'sullen and heavy-rumped'."}],"words":[{"surface":"mürrisch","lemma":"mürrisch","morphology":"adjective, predicate","role":"predicate adjective describing Er (from s2-l3/s3-l2)","gloss":"sullen"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on mürrisch","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"schwergesäßig","lemma":"schwergesäßig","morphology":"adjective, predicate","role":"depends on und","gloss":"heavy-rumped"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"der-koenig-von-muenster-s3-l2","source":"Er fühlte sich nicht mehr echt:","translation":"He no longer felt himself real:","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-koenig-von-muenster-s3-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"fühlte sich","title":"sich fühlen with an adjective","body":"sich fühlen, 'to feel oneself to be', takes a bare adjective as its complement, so sich echt fühlen means 'to feel real, genuine'. nicht mehr means 'no longer', giving 'he no longer felt real'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Er","lemma":"er","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on fühlte","gloss":"He"},{"surface":"fühlte","lemma":"fühlen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"felt"},{"surface":"sich","lemma":"sich","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, singular, reflexive","role":"depends on fühlte","gloss":"himself"},{"surface":"nicht","lemma":"nicht","morphology":"particle","role":"depends on fühlte","gloss":"no"},{"surface":"mehr","lemma":"mehr","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on nicht","gloss":"longer"},{"surface":"echt","lemma":"echt","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on fühlte","gloss":"real"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"der-koenig-von-muenster-s3-l3","source":"der Herr in ihm war mäßig,","translation":"the lord in him was middling,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-koenig-von-muenster-s3-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"mäßig","title":"Moderate, or mediocre","body":"mäßig means 'moderate, modest in degree', and in everyday use also 'middling, not up to much'. der Herr, 'the lord', is the subject of war, so der Herr in ihm war mäßig means 'the lord in him was middling'."}],"words":[{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Herr","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Herr","lemma":"Herr","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on war","gloss":"lord"},{"surface":"in","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Herr","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"ihm","lemma":"ihm","morphology":"pronoun, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on in","gloss":"him"},{"surface":"war","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"was"},{"surface":"mäßig","lemma":"mäßig","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on war","gloss":"middling"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"der-koenig-von-muenster-s3-l4","source":"und der Beischlaf war schlecht.","translation":"and the coupling was poor.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-koenig-von-muenster-s3-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Beischlaf","title":"A formal word for sex","body":"Beischlaf, literally 'a lying beside', is a dry, formal German term for sexual intercourse. der Beischlaf war schlecht uses schlecht, 'bad, poor', as the predicate adjective completing war."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on war","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Beischlaf","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Beischlaf","lemma":"Beischlaf","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on war","gloss":"coupling"},{"surface":"war","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"was"},{"surface":"schlecht","lemma":"schlecht","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on war","gloss":"poor"}]}]}