# Der Leser · The Reader

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

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

**1** Wer kennt ihn, diesen, welcher sein Gesicht  
Who knows him, this one, who has let his face
> A formal relative pronoun: welcher, 'who', is a relative pronoun, nominative masculine singular, referring back to diesen, 'this one'. It is more formal than der or die used as a relative pronoun.

**2** wegsenkte aus dem Sein zu einem zweiten,  
sink away from being toward a second,
> Simple past, sank away: wegsenkte is the simple past of wegsenken, 'to sink away, to lower away', combining weg-, 'away', with senken, 'to lower, to sink'. aus dem Sein zu einem zweiten means 'from being toward a second [being]'.

**3** das nur das schnelle Wenden voller Seiten  
which only the swift turning of full pages
> Infinitive used as a noun: Wenden is the infinitive of wenden, 'to turn', used as a neuter noun, 'the turning'. das schnelle Wenden voller Seiten means 'the swift turning of full pages'; voller plus genitive means 'full of'.

**4** manchmal gewaltsam unterbricht?  
sometimes violently interrupts?
> Present tense, interrupts: unterbricht is the present tense, third-person singular, of unterbrechen, 'to interrupt'. manchmal gewaltsam unterbricht means 'sometimes violently interrupts'.


**5** Selbst seine Mutter wäre nicht gewiß,  
Even his own mother would not be certain
> Subjunctive for uncertainty: wäre is the Konjunktiv II (subjunctive) of sein, 'to be'. It marks a hypothetical: Selbst seine Mutter wäre nicht gewiß means 'even his own mother would not be certain', not a statement of fact.

**6** ob er es ist, der da mit seinem Schatten  
whether it is he who there, with his own shadow,
> Conjunction for an indirect question: ob, 'whether', is a subordinating conjunction introducing an indirect question, so it sends the verb ist to the end of its clause: ob er es ist, 'whether it is he'.

**7** Getränktes liest. Und wir, die Stunden hatten,  
reads what is soaked through. And we, who had the hours,
> Participle turned into a noun: Getränktes is the past participle of tränken, 'to soak, to steep', turned into a neuter noun meaning 'what is soaked through'. It is the object of liest, 'reads'.

**8** was wissen wir, wieviel ihm hinschwand, bis  
what do we know of how much slipped from him, until
> Simple past, slipped away: hinschwand is the simple past, third-person singular, of hinschwinden, 'to slip away, to fade away', combining hin-, 'away', with schwinden, 'to dwindle, to vanish'.


**9** er mühsam aufsah: alles auf sich hebend,  
he looked up with effort: lifting everything onto himself,
> Prefix stays attached here: aufsah is the simple past of aufsehen, 'to look up', a separable verb whose prefix auf stays attached because the verb is not in a main clause here. alles auf sich hebend means 'lifting everything onto himself'.

**10** was unten in dem Buche sich verhielt,  
all that lay quiet down within the book,
> To lie still, not behave: sich verhielt is the simple past of sich verhalten, which can mean 'to behave' but here means 'to lie, to rest, to hold itself'. was unten in dem Buche sich verhielt means 'that lay down within the book'.

**11** mit Augen, welche, statt zu nehmen, gebend  
with eyes that, instead of taking, giving,
> Instead of, plus infinitive: statt zu nehmen means 'instead of taking'. statt, 'instead of', takes an infinitive with zu to name the action not performed, contrasted here with gebend, 'giving', that follows.

**12** anstießen an die fertig-volle Welt:  
knocked against the finished, full-grown world:
> Simple past, knocked against: anstießen is the simple past, third-person plural, of anstoßen, 'to knock against, to bump into'. anstießen an die fertig-volle Welt means 'knocked against the finished, full-grown world'.

**13** wie stille Kinder, die allein gespielt,  
like quiet children who have played alone,

**14** auf einmal das Vorhandene erfahren;  
and all at once encounter what is there;
> A noun for what exists: Vorhandene is the present participle of vorhanden sein, 'to exist, to be present', turned into a neuter noun meaning 'what is there, what exists'. It is the object of erfahren, 'to encounter'.

**15** doch seine Züge, die geordnet waren,  
yet his features, which had been in order,
> The noun for facial features: Züge means 'features', as of a face, from Zug, which can also mean 'pull' or 'train'. seine Züge, die geordnet waren means 'his features, which had been in order'.

**16** blieben für immer umgestellt.  
stayed rearranged forever.
> Past participle, rearranged: umgestellt is the past participle of umstellen, 'to rearrange, to reposition'. blieben für immer umgestellt means 'stayed rearranged forever', with blieben, 'stayed', carrying the sense of remaining in that state.

---

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.