# Der Platz · The Square

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Willkürlich von Gewesnem ausgeweitet:  
Arbitrarily widened out of what has been:
> A participle made into a noun: Gewesnem is a syncopated form of gewesen, the past participle of sein, 'to be'. Capitalized, it becomes the neuter noun das Gewesene, 'that which has been'. The -em ending is dative, governed by von, giving 'widened out of what has been'.

**2** von Wut und Aufruhr, von dem Kunterbunt,  
out of rage and revolt, out of the motley jumble
> An adjective turned into a noun: kunterbunt is normally an adjective meaning 'higgledy-piggledy, motley'. Here it is capitalized and used as a noun, das Kunterbunt, 'the jumble, the motley confusion'. It stands in the dative after von, continuing the 'out of' phrases from the lines above.

**3** das die Verurteilten zu Tod begleitet,  
that escorts the condemned to their death,
> A participle as a noun: verurteilt is the past participle of verurteilen, 'to condemn, sentence'. Capitalized, it becomes a noun, die Verurteilten, 'the condemned'. Here it is accusative plural, the object of begleitet, 'accompanies, escorts'.

**4** von Buden, von der Jahrmarktsrufer Mund,  
out of stalls, out of the fairground criers' mouths,
> A compound noun with a linking s: der Jahrmarktsrufer joins der Jahrmarkt, 'fair, annual market', and der Rufer, 'crier, caller', with a linking -s-, giving 'fairground crier'. der Jahrmarktsrufer Mund is a genitive plural before its noun: 'the fairground criers' mouths'.

**5** und von dem Herzog, der vorüberreitet,  
and out of the duke who comes riding past,
> Separable verb vorüberreiten: vorüberreiten, 'to ride past', is separable: vorüber-, 'past, by', plus reiten, 'to ride'. In this relative clause the verb goes to the end and reassembles as vorüberreitet: der vorüberreitet means 'who rides past'.

**6** und von dem Hochmut von Burgund,  
and out of the high pride of Burgundy,
> A von phrase in the genitive chain: der Hochmut means 'arrogance, haughtiness', literally 'high mood'. It stands in the dative after von, and a second von phrase, von Burgund, depends on Hochmut itself, giving 'the pride of Burgundy'.


**7** (auf allen Seiten Hintergrund):  
(on every side a backdrop):
> auf allen Seiten plus a noun: der Hintergrund means 'background, backdrop'. auf allen Seiten means 'on all sides, on every side', with Seiten in the dative after auf. Hintergrund itself stands in the nominative as the head of this short clause.


**8** ladet der Platz zum Einzug seiner Weite  
the square invites, to the entry of its expanse,
> Separable verb einladen split apart: The main verb is the separable einladen, 'to invite'. Its finite stem appears here as ladet, an older form of lädt, while the prefix ein is placed at the end of the next line. der Platz, 'the square', is the subject.

**9** die fernen Fenster unaufhörlich ein,  
the far-off windows ceaselessly in,
> An adverb built with un-: unaufhörlich means 'unceasing, incessant', built from un-, 'not', and aufhören, 'to cease, stop'. Here it functions as an adverb modifying ladet: the square invites ceaselessly. die fernen Fenster is the accusative object of that verb.

**10** während sich das Gefolge und Geleite  
while the retinue and escort
> A conjunction that delays the verb: während, 'while', is a subordinating conjunction, so the finite verb of its clause moves to the very end, here verteilt und ordnet two lines down. sich is the reflexive pronoun of that verb, placed early in the clause.

**11** der Leere langsam an den Handelsreihn  
of the emptiness slowly along the rows of shops
> A noun in the genitive: die Leere means 'the emptiness, the void', the noun form of leer, 'empty'. The genitive der Leere means 'of the emptiness' and depends on Gefolge, 'retinue'. an den Handelsreihn means 'along the rows of shops'.


**12** verteilt und ordnet. In die Giebel steigend,  
spread and arrange themselves. Climbing into the gables,
> The held-back verbs land: verteilt and ordnet are the two finite verbs the während clause has been waiting for: sich verteilen, 'to spread out', and ordnen, 'to arrange', sharing the reflexive sich from the earlier line. Both are third-person singular present.

**13** wollen die kleinen Häuser alles sehn,  
the little houses want to see everything,
> Modal wollen plus bare infinitive: wollen, 'to want', is a modal verb and takes a bare infinitive, here sehn, a shortened form of sehen, 'to see', placed at the end of the clause. die kleinen Häuser is the subject and alles the accusative object of sehn.

**14** die Türme voreinander scheu verschweigend,  
shyly keeping the towers secret from one another,
> verschweigen as a present participle: verschweigen means 'to keep silent about, conceal from someone'. Its present participle verschweigend functions adverbially here, describing how the houses act. die Türme is the accusative object, and voreinander means 'from one another'.

**15** die immer maßlos hinter ihnen stehn.  
which forever stand, immense, behind them.
> Built from Maß plus los: maßlos means 'measureless, boundless', from das Maß, 'measure', and the suffix -los, 'without'. It functions as an adverb modifying stehn. die is a relative pronoun referring back to die Türme, 'the towers'.

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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.