{"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-stifter","title":{"source":"Der Stifter","translated":"The Donor"},"section":"New Poems","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/der-stifter","lines":15},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/sankt-sebastian","next":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/der-engel","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-stifter-s1-l1","source":"Das war der Auftrag an die Malergilde.","translation":"That was the commission given to the painters' guild.","stanza":1,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s1-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"der Auftrag","title":"Commission, assignment","body":"der Auftrag means 'the commission, the assignment', from auftragen, 'to entrust a task'. der Auftrag an die Malergilde means 'the commission to the painters' guild', with an plus the accusative expressing 'to'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Das","lemma":"der","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"subject of war","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"war","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"was"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Auftrag","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Auftrag","lemma":"Auftrag","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on war","gloss":"commission"},{"surface":"an","lemma":"an","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Auftrag","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"die","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Malergilde","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Malergilde","lemma":"Malergilde","morphology":"noun, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on an","gloss":"painters' guild"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"der-stifter-s1-l2","source":"Vielleicht daß ihm der Heiland nie erschien;","translation":"Perhaps it was that the Savior never appeared to him;","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s1-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Vielleicht daß","title":"Elliptical vielleicht daß","body":"Vielleicht daß … is a shortened way of saying 'perhaps it was that …'. der Heiland means 'the Savior'; erscheinen means 'to appear'; ihm is the dative of the one appeared to. daß is the old spelling of dass."},{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"der Heiland","title":"An old devout word for Christ","body":"der Heiland means 'the Savior, the Redeemer', an old, devout German name for Christ, built on heilen, 'to heal, make whole'. It belongs to the religious vocabulary of the medieval donor panel the poem describes."}],"words":[{"surface":"Vielleicht","lemma":"vielleicht","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on erschien","gloss":"perhaps"},{"surface":"daß","lemma":"daß","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on erschien","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"ihm","lemma":"ihm","morphology":"pronoun, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on erschien","gloss":"to him"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Heiland","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Heiland","lemma":"Heiland","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"subject of erschien","gloss":"Savior"},{"surface":"nie","lemma":"nie","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on erschien","gloss":"never"},{"surface":"erschien","lemma":"erscheinen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"appeared"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"der-stifter-s1-l3","source":"vielleicht trat auch kein heiliger Bischof milde","translation":"perhaps no holy bishop, gently, even stepped","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s1-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"trat … milde an seine Seite","title":"A separable verb plus an adverb","body":"The verb is treten an, 'to step up to', which is separable: trat takes second position while its prefix an waits for the next line, an seine Seite. milde here is adverbial, 'gently'. kein heiliger Bischof, 'no holy bishop', negates the whole clause."}],"words":[{"surface":"vielleicht","lemma":"vielleicht","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on trat","gloss":"perhaps"},{"surface":"trat","lemma":"treten","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"stepped"},{"surface":"auch","lemma":"auch","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on trat","gloss":"even"},{"surface":"kein","lemma":"kein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Bischof","gloss":"no"},{"surface":"heiliger","lemma":"heilig","morphology":"adjective, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Bischof","gloss":"holy"},{"surface":"Bischof","lemma":"Bischof","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"subject of trat","gloss":"bishop"},{"surface":"milde","lemma":"milde","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on trat","gloss":"gently"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"der-stifter-s1-l4","source":"an seine Seite wie in diesem Bilde","translation":"up to his side, as in this very picture,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s1-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"in diesem Bilde","title":"An old poetic dative ending","body":"in diesem Bilde is dative singular after in, marking a fixed location. das Bild, 'picture', takes the older dative ending -e, Bilde, common in elevated nineteenth-century verse and kept here for the meter."}],"words":[{"surface":"an","lemma":"an","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on trat (previous line)","gloss":"up to"},{"surface":"seine","lemma":"sein","morphology":"determiner, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Seite","gloss":"his"},{"surface":"Seite","lemma":"Seite","morphology":"noun, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on an","gloss":"side"},{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on trat (previous line)","gloss":"as"},{"surface":"in","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on wie","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"diesem","lemma":"dieser","morphology":"determiner, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Bilde","gloss":"this"},{"surface":"Bilde","lemma":"Bild","morphology":"noun, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on in","gloss":"picture"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"der-stifter-s1-l5","source":"und legte leise seine Hand auf ihn.","translation":"and laid his hand softly upon him.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s1-l5.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"legte … auf ihn","title":"legen with auf and the accusative","body":"legen, 'to lay, place', governs auf with the accusative ihn, 'onto him', because this is motion toward a place, not rest in it. leise means 'softly'. seine Hand auf ihn legen is 'to lay his hand on him'."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"connects legte to trat","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"legte","lemma":"legen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"coordinated main verb with trat","gloss":"laid"},{"surface":"leise","lemma":"leise","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on legte","gloss":"softly"},{"surface":"seine","lemma":"sein","morphology":"determiner, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Hand","gloss":"his"},{"surface":"Hand","lemma":"Hand","morphology":"noun, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on legte","gloss":"hand"},{"surface":"auf","lemma":"auf","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on legte","gloss":"upon"},{"surface":"ihn","lemma":"ihn","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on auf","gloss":"him"}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"der-stifter-s2-l1","source":"Vielleicht war dieses alles: so zu knien","translation":"Perhaps this was the whole of it: to kneel like this","stanza":2,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s2-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"so zu knien","title":"zu plus the infinitive knien","body":"so zu knien means 'to kneel in just this way'. The zu-infinitive names the act as a thing in itself, and is picked up again as the bare zu knien two lines later. knien, 'to kneel', is the plain infinitive; so, 'thus', points at the posture in the painting."}],"words":[{"surface":"Vielleicht","lemma":"vielleicht","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on war","gloss":"perhaps"},{"surface":"war","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"was"},{"surface":"dieses","lemma":"dieser","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on alles","gloss":"this"},{"surface":"alles","lemma":"alle","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"subject of war","gloss":"the whole"},{"surface":"so","lemma":"so","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on knien","gloss":"like this"},{"surface":"zu","lemma":"zu","morphology":"particle","role":"depends on knien","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"knien","lemma":"knien","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"predicate complement of war","gloss":"kneel"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"der-stifter-s2-l2","source":"(so wie es alles ist, was wir erfuhren):","translation":"(just as it is everything we have come to know):","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s2-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"erfuhren","title":"erfahren, to learn or to undergo","body":"erfuhren is the past tense of erfahren, which means both 'to find out, to learn' and 'to experience, to undergo'. alles … was wir erfuhren means 'everything we have learned or lived through'."}],"words":[{"surface":"so","lemma":"so","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on wie","gloss":"just"},{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"as"},{"surface":"es","lemma":"es","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"subject of ist","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"alles","lemma":"alle","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"predicate complement of ist","gloss":"everything"},{"surface":"ist","lemma":"sein","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the parenthetical clause","gloss":"is"},{"surface":"was","lemma":"was","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"object of erfuhren","gloss":"which"},{"surface":"wir","lemma":"wir","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"subject of erfuhren","gloss":"we"},{"surface":"erfuhren","lemma":"erfahren","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, first-person, plural","role":"main verb of the relative clause","gloss":"learned"}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"der-stifter-s2-l3","source":"zu knien: daß man die eigenen Konturen,","translation":"to kneel: so that one's own contours,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s2-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"daß man","title":"The impersonal pronoun man","body":"man is the impersonal pronoun, 'one, you in general', not the noun Mann. After daß, 'so that', the finite verb goes to the end of the clause, here hält, held off until a later line. die eigenen Konturen means 'one's own contours'."}],"words":[{"surface":"zu","lemma":"zu","morphology":"particle","role":"depends on knien","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"knien","lemma":"knien","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"predicate complement of war (s2-l1)","gloss":"kneel"},{"surface":"daß","lemma":"daß","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on hält (later line)","gloss":"so that"},{"surface":"man","lemma":"man","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, singular","role":"subject of hält (later line)","gloss":"one"},{"surface":"die","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on Konturen","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"eigenen","lemma":"eigen","morphology":"adjective, accusative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on Konturen","gloss":"own"},{"surface":"Konturen","lemma":"Kontur","morphology":"noun, accusative, feminine, plural","role":"object of hält (later line)","gloss":"contours"}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"der-stifter-s2-l4","source":"die auswärtswollenden, ganz angespannt","translation":"the ones that want to stray outward, all held taut,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s2-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"auswärtswollenden","title":"A coined compound participle","body":"This is a Rilke coinage: auswärts, 'outward', fused with wollend, the present participle of wollen, 'wanting', then declined as an adjective. die auswärtswollenden Konturen means 'the outward-wanting contours'. ganz angespannt means 'wholly tensed, drawn taut'."}],"words":[{"surface":"die","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on auswärtswollenden","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"auswärtswollenden","lemma":"auswärtswollend","morphology":"adjective, accusative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on Konturen (previous line)","gloss":"wanting to stray outward"},{"surface":"ganz","lemma":"ganz","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on angespannt","gloss":"all"},{"surface":"angespannt","lemma":"anspannen","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"depends on Konturen (previous line)","gloss":"held taut"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"der-stifter-s2-l5","source":"im Herzen hält, wie Pferde in der Hand.","translation":"one holds within the heart, like horses in the hand.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s2-l5.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"im Herzen hält","title":"The clause's verb lands at the end","body":"hält, from halten, 'to hold', is the finite verb of the daß man … clause begun earlier, and it lands at the very end as subordinate word order requires. im Herzen, 'in the heart', and wie Pferde in der Hand both depend on it."}],"words":[{"surface":"im","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on hält","gloss":"within the"},{"surface":"Herzen","lemma":"Herz","morphology":"noun, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on im","gloss":"heart"},{"surface":"hält","lemma":"halten","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"holds"},{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Pferde","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"Pferde","lemma":"Pferd","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, plural","role":"depends on wie","gloss":"horses"},{"surface":"in","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Pferde","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Hand","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Hand","lemma":"Hand","morphology":"noun, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on in","gloss":"hand"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"der-stifter-s3-l1","source":"Daß, wenn ein Ungeheueres geschähe,","translation":"So that, were something monstrous to come to pass,","stanza":3,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s3-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"ein Ungeheueres","title":"The monstrous, made a noun","body":"ungeheuer means 'monstrous, enormous, uncanny'; das Ungeheuere is its substantivized neuter form, 'the monstrous thing'. Rilke leaves it unnamed. geschähe, from geschehen, 'to happen', is subjunctive for an unreal supposition, paired with wenn, 'if'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Daß","lemma":"daß","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on könnten (later line)","gloss":"so that"},{"surface":"wenn","lemma":"wenn","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on geschähe","gloss":"if"},{"surface":"ein","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Ungeheueres","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"Ungeheueres","lemma":"Ungeheueres","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"subject of geschähe","gloss":"monstrous thing"},{"surface":"geschähe","lemma":"geschehen","morphology":"verb, past, subjunctive, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the wenn-clause","gloss":"come to pass"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"der-stifter-s3-l2","source":"das nicht versprochen ist und nieverbrieft,","translation":"a thing not promised and never guaranteed,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s3-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"nieverbrieft","title":"A coined negative compound","body":"This coinage fuses nie, 'never', to verbrieft, the past participle of verbriefen, 'to certify in writing, guarantee by charter', from der Brief, 'letter, document'. nieverbrieft means 'never warranted by any document', paired with versprochen, 'promised'."}],"words":[{"surface":"das","lemma":"der","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"subject of ist","gloss":"which"},{"surface":"nicht","lemma":"nicht","morphology":"particle","role":"depends on versprochen","gloss":"not"},{"surface":"versprochen","lemma":"versprechen","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"promised"},{"surface":"ist","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the relative clause","gloss":"is"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"nieverbrieft","lemma":"verbriefen","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"coordinated with versprochen, depends on ist","gloss":"never guaranteed","note":"Appears as one token 'nieverbrieft' in the source, likely a hyphenation/line-break artifact for 'nie verbrieft' -- 'never guaranteed/certified.'"}]},{"number":13,"label":"13","id":"der-stifter-s3-l3","source":"wir hoffen könnten, daß es uns nicht sähe","translation":"we might hope that it would not catch sight of us","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s3-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"hoffen könnten … sähe","title":"Two verbs in the unreal mood","body":"könnten and sähe are both Subjunctive II: wir hoffen könnten means 'we could hope', and daß es uns nicht sähe means 'that it might not see us'. German uses this mood to keep the whole scene hypothetical. sähe is from sehen, 'to see'."}],"words":[{"surface":"wir","lemma":"wir","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"subject of könnten","gloss":"we"},{"surface":"hoffen","lemma":"hoffen","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"depends on könnten","gloss":"hope"},{"surface":"könnten","lemma":"können","morphology":"auxiliary verb, past, subjunctive, first-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"might"},{"surface":"daß","lemma":"daß","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on sähe","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"es","lemma":"es","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"subject of sähe","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"uns","lemma":"uns","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, plural","role":"depends on sähe","gloss":"us"},{"surface":"nicht","lemma":"nicht","morphology":"particle","role":"depends on sähe","gloss":"not"},{"surface":"sähe","lemma":"sehen","morphology":"verb, past, subjunctive, third-person, singular","role":"coordinated main verb with hoffen, under könnten","gloss":"catch sight of"}]},{"number":14,"label":"14","id":"der-stifter-s3-l4","source":"und näher käme, ganz in unsre Nähe,","translation":"and would come nearer, right into our nearness,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s3-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"näher … in unsre Nähe","title":"An adverb and noun that sound alike","body":"näher is the comparative of nah, 'near'; die Nähe is the noun 'nearness'. näher käme … ganz in unsre Nähe plays the two forms against each other, 'would come nearer, right into our nearness'. käme is subjunctive of kommen; unsre is the contracted unsere."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on könnten (previous line)","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"näher","lemma":"nah","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on käme","gloss":"nearer"},{"surface":"käme","lemma":"kommen","morphology":"verb, past, subjunctive, third-person, singular","role":"coordinated main verb with sähe, under könnten","gloss":"would come"},{"surface":"ganz","lemma":"ganz","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on in","gloss":"right"},{"surface":"in","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on käme","gloss":"into"},{"surface":"unsre","lemma":"unser","morphology":"determiner, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Nähe","gloss":"our"},{"surface":"Nähe","lemma":"Nähe","morphology":"noun, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on in","gloss":"nearness"}]},{"number":15,"label":"15","id":"der-stifter-s3-l5","source":"mit sich beschäftigt und in sich vertieft.","translation":"occupied with itself and sunk deep within itself.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/der-stifter-s3-l5.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"in sich vertieft","title":"Absorbed within oneself","body":"sich vertiefen in etwas means 'to become absorbed in something'; the participle vertieft means 'engrossed, sunk deep'. With the reflexive in sich it means 'absorbed in itself', paired here with mit sich beschäftigt, 'occupied with itself'."}],"words":[{"surface":"mit","lemma":"mit","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on beschäftigt","gloss":"with"},{"surface":"sich","lemma":"sich","morphology":"pronoun, dative, singular, reflexive","role":"depends on mit","gloss":"itself"},{"surface":"beschäftigt","lemma":"beschäftigen","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"depends on käme (previous line)","gloss":"occupied"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on beschäftigt","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"in","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on vertieft","gloss":"within"},{"surface":"sich","lemma":"sich","morphology":"pronoun, dative, singular, reflexive","role":"depends on in","gloss":"itself"},{"surface":"vertieft","lemma":"vertiefen","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"coordinated with beschäftigt","gloss":"sunk deep"}]}]}