{"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":"die-aegyptische-maria","title":{"source":"Die ägyptische Maria","translated":"Mary of Egypt"},"section":"New Poems: The Other Part","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria","lines":15},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/der-stylit","next":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/kreuzigung","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":"die-aegyptische-maria-s1-l1","source":"Seit sie damals, bettheiß, als die Hure","translation":"Since back then, bed-hot, when she, the whore,","stanza":1,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s1-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"bettheiß","title":"A coined compound","body":"Bettheiß welds Bett, 'bed', to heiß, 'hot': 'bed-hot', still warm from the bed. German freely fuses two words into a new adjective this way. Die Hure, 'the whore', names her former trade directly."}],"words":[{"surface":"Seit","lemma":"seit","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on floh","gloss":"Since"},{"surface":"sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on floh","gloss":"she"},{"surface":"damals","lemma":"damals","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on floh","gloss":"back then"},{"surface":"bettheiß","lemma":"bettheiß","morphology":"adjective","role":"depends on floh","gloss":"bed-hot"},{"surface":"als","lemma":"als","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on floh","gloss":"when"},{"surface":"die","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Hure","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Hure","lemma":"Hure","morphology":"noun, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on als","gloss":"whore"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s1-l2","source":"übern Jordan floh und, wie ein Grab","translation":"fled across the Jordan and, like a grave","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s1-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"übern","title":"A contracted preposition","body":"Übern fuses über, 'over, across', with the accusative article den: full form über den Jordan. The accusative marks motion across a boundary, here the river crossed in flight. The contraction is a clipped, spoken form."}],"words":[{"surface":"übern","lemma":"über","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on floh","gloss":"across the","note":"übern is a contraction of über den ('over/across the')."},{"surface":"Jordan","lemma":"Jordan","morphology":"proper noun, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on übern","gloss":"Jordan"},{"surface":"floh","lemma":"fliehen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"fled"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on floh","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on Grab","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"ein","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Grab","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"Grab","lemma":"Grab","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on wie","gloss":"grave"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s1-l3","source":"gebend, stark und unvermischt das pure","translation":"giving, strong and unmixed, the pure","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s1-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"unvermischt","title":"A negated participle as adverb","body":"Unvermischt, 'unmixed, undiluted', comes from vermischen, 'to blend', with the negating prefix un-. It depends on the present participle gebend, 'giving', in the same line, and reaches forward with stark, 'strong', and pure, 'pure', to modify Herz, 'heart', in the next line."}],"words":[{"surface":"gebend","lemma":"geben","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"depends on gab","gloss":"giving"},{"surface":"stark","lemma":"stark","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on gebend","gloss":"strong"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links stark and unvermischt","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"unvermischt","lemma":"unvermischt","morphology":"adjective","role":"depends on gebend","gloss":"unmixed"},{"surface":"das","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Herz","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"pure","lemma":"pur","morphology":"adjective, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Herz","gloss":"pure"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s1-l4","source":"Herz der Ewigkeit zu trinken gab,","translation":"heart of eternity she gave to drink,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s1-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"zu trinken gab","title":"An idiom for giving drink","body":"Jemandem etwas zu trinken geben is the fixed idiom 'to give someone something to drink'. Its object, Herz der Ewigkeit, 'heart of eternity', is held back across two lines before the verb gab, 'gave', closes the sentence."}],"words":[{"surface":"Herz","lemma":"Herz","morphology":"noun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on gab","gloss":"heart"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, genitive, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Ewigkeit","gloss":"of the"},{"surface":"Ewigkeit","lemma":"Ewigkeit","morphology":"noun, genitive, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Herz","gloss":"eternity"},{"surface":"zu","lemma":"zu","morphology":"particle","role":"depends on trinken","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"trinken","lemma":"trinken","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"depends on gab","gloss":"drink","note":"Forms the idiom zu trinken geben ('to give to drink') with gab."},{"surface":"gab","lemma":"geben","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"gave"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s2-l1","source":"wuchs ihr frühes Hingegebensein","translation":"her early state of self-surrender grew","stanza":2,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s2-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Hingegebensein","title":"Surrender made a noun","body":"Hingegebensein is built from the past participle of sich hingeben, 'to give oneself up, devote oneself', plus Sein, 'being': literally 'the state of being given-over'. German can pack a whole condition into one abstract neuter noun this way."}],"words":[{"surface":"wuchs","lemma":"wachsen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"grew"},{"surface":"ihr","lemma":"ihr","morphology":"determiner, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Hingegebensein","gloss":"her"},{"surface":"frühes","lemma":"früh","morphology":"adjective, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Hingegebensein","gloss":"early"},{"surface":"Hingegebensein","lemma":"Hingegebensein","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on wuchs","gloss":"state of self-surrender","note":"A Rilke coinage: hingegeben ('given over, surrendered') + Sein ('being') — an abstract noun for a state of self-surrender."}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s2-l2","source":"unaufhaltsam an zu solcher Größe,","translation":"unstoppably to such a greatness on,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s2-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"wuchs … an","title":"A separable verb","body":"The verb is anwachsen, 'to grow, increase'. Its prefix an is stranded on this line while the stem wuchs, 'grew', sits back on the line before. Unaufhaltsam, 'unstoppably', modifies the growing."}],"words":[{"surface":"unaufhaltsam","lemma":"unaufhaltsam","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on wuchs","gloss":"unstoppably"},{"surface":"an","lemma":"anwachsen","morphology":"particle, separable verb prefix","role":"depends on wuchs","gloss":"on","note":"Separable prefix of anwachsen ('grow, increase'); wuchs...an = grew, split across the line break."},{"surface":"zu","lemma":"zu","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on wuchs","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"solcher","lemma":"solcher","morphology":"determiner, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Größe","gloss":"such a"},{"surface":"Größe","lemma":"Größe","morphology":"noun, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on zu","gloss":"greatness"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s2-l3","source":"daß sie endlich, wie die ewige Blöße","translation":"that at last, like the everlasting bareness","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s2-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"daß","title":"Result clause, verb to the end","body":"Daß, 'that, so that', opens a subordinate result clause: her surrender grew to such greatness that a consequence follows. In a daß-clause the finite verb moves to the very end, here dalag, which arrives only at the start of the next stanza."}],"words":[{"surface":"daß","lemma":"daß","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on dalag","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on dalag","gloss":"she"},{"surface":"endlich","lemma":"endlich","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on dalag","gloss":"at last"},{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on dalag","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"die","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Blöße","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"ewige","lemma":"ewig","morphology":"adjective, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Blöße","gloss":"everlasting"},{"surface":"Blöße","lemma":"Blöße","morphology":"noun, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on wie","gloss":"bareness"}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s2-l4","source":"aller, aus vergilbtem Elfenbein","translation":"of all, out of yellowed ivory","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s2-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"vergilbtem","title":"Yellowed with age","body":"Vergilbtem is the past participle of vergilben, 'to turn yellow', as old paper or ivory does with time. Its dative ending -em follows aus, 'out of, made of': aus vergilbtem Elfenbein, 'of yellowed ivory.'"}],"words":[{"surface":"aller","lemma":"alle","morphology":"pronoun, genitive, plural","role":"depends on Blöße","gloss":"of all"},{"surface":"aus","lemma":"aus","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Blöße","gloss":"out of"},{"surface":"vergilbtem","lemma":"vergilbt","morphology":"adjective, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Elfenbein","gloss":"yellowed"},{"surface":"Elfenbein","lemma":"Elfenbein","morphology":"noun, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on aus","gloss":"ivory"}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s3-l1","source":"dalag in der dürren Haare Schelfe.","translation":"lay there in the husk of her dry hair.","stanza":3,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s3-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"dalag","title":"The held-back verb lands","body":"Dalag is the separable verb daliegen, 'to lie there', in the simple past: da, 'there', plus lag, 'lay'. It is the finite verb of the daß-clause begun two lines earlier, finally arriving here. Der dürren Haare Schelfe reverses normal order: 'the husk of the dry hair.'"}],"words":[{"surface":"dalag","lemma":"daliegen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"lay there"},{"surface":"in","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on dalag","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, genitive, plural","role":"depends on Haare","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"dürren","lemma":"dürr","morphology":"adjective, genitive, plural","role":"depends on Haare","gloss":"dry"},{"surface":"Haare","lemma":"Haar","morphology":"noun, genitive, neuter, plural","role":"depends on Schelfe","gloss":"hairs","note":"Genitive-plural stacking: 'der dürren Haare Schelfe' literally 'the dry hairs' husk' — the possessed noun (Schelfe) comes last."},{"surface":"Schelfe","lemma":"Schelfe","morphology":"noun, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on dalag","gloss":"husk"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s3-l2","source":"Und ein Löwe kreiste; und ein Alter","translation":"And a lion circled; and an old man","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s3-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"ein Alter","title":"Adjective used as a noun","body":"Alter here is the adjective alt, 'old', turned into a noun meaning 'an old man'. German capitalizes and inflects such adjectives like nouns. Kreiste, 'circled', past of kreisen, describes the lion's watchful movement."}],"words":[{"surface":"Und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on kreiste","gloss":"And"},{"surface":"ein","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Löwe","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"Löwe","lemma":"Löwe","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on kreiste","gloss":"lion"},{"surface":"kreiste","lemma":"kreisen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"circled"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on kreiste","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"ein","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Alter","gloss":"an"},{"surface":"Alter","lemma":"Alte","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on rief","gloss":"old man","note":"Substantivized adjective meaning 'old man' (ein Alter/der Alte) — not the abstract noun Alter ('age')."}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s3-l3","source":"rief ihn winkend an, daß er ihm helfe:","translation":"called to it, beckoning, to help him out:","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s3-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"rief … an","title":"Separable prefix and a subjunctive","body":"Rief ... an is the separable verb anrufen, 'to call to, hail', its prefix an stranded at the line's end. Helfe is the present subjunctive of helfen, 'to help', marking the old man's wish that the lion should help him; helfen also takes the dative, so ihm, 'him', is dative, not accusative."}],"words":[{"surface":"rief","lemma":"rufen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"called"},{"surface":"ihn","lemma":"er","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on rief","gloss":"it","note":"'ihn' is just the accusative object of anrufen (referring to the lion); the 'to' sense is already carried by the separable prefix 'an' (w4), so glossing 'ihn' as 'to it' double-counts the preposition."},{"surface":"winkend","lemma":"winken","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"depends on rief","gloss":"beckoning"},{"surface":"an","lemma":"anrufen","morphology":"particle, separable verb prefix","role":"depends on rief","gloss":"to","note":"Separable prefix of anrufen ('call to, hail'); rief...an = called to."},{"surface":"daß","lemma":"daß","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on helfe","gloss":"so that"},{"surface":"er","lemma":"er","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on helfe","gloss":"he"},{"surface":"ihm","lemma":"er","morphology":"pronoun, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on helfe","gloss":"him"},{"surface":"helfe","lemma":"helfen","morphology":"verb, present, subjunctive, third-person, singular","role":"depends on rief","gloss":"help"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s4-l1","source":"(und so gruben sie zu zwein.)","translation":"(and so the two of them dug together.)","stanza":4,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s4-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"zu zwein","title":"The two together","body":"Zu zwein is an archaic, poetic form of zu zweit, 'as a pair, together, the two of them'. Gruben is the simple past of graben, 'to dig'; man and lion dig the grave together."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on gruben","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"so","lemma":"so","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on gruben","gloss":"so"},{"surface":"gruben","lemma":"graben","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"dug"},{"surface":"sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on gruben","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"zu","lemma":"zu","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on gruben","gloss":"as"},{"surface":"zwein","lemma":"zwei","morphology":"numeral, dative, plural","role":"depends on zu","gloss":"two","note":"Archaic dative of zwei ('two'); zu zwein is an idiom for 'the two together,' echoed by the translation's 'the two of them... together.'"}]},{"number":13,"label":"13","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s5-l1","source":"Und der Alte neigte sie hinein.","translation":"And the old man bent her down into it.","stanza":5,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s5-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"hinein","title":"Motion 'into' from the speaker's view","body":"Hinein means 'into, in there': hin marks movement away from the speaker, ein the going-in. It functions like a separable element on neigte, 'bent, inclined': neigte ... hinein, 'bent her down into it.'"}],"words":[{"surface":"Und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on neigte","gloss":"And"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Alte","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Alte","lemma":"Alte","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on neigte","gloss":"old man"},{"surface":"neigte","lemma":"neigen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"bent"},{"surface":"sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on neigte","gloss":"her"},{"surface":"hinein","lemma":"hinein","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on neigte","gloss":"down into it"}]},{"number":14,"label":"14","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s5-l2","source":"Und der Löwe, wie ein Wappenhalter,","translation":"And the lion, like a heraldic bearer,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s5-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Wappenhalter","title":"A heraldic compound","body":"Wappenhalter combines Wappen, 'coat of arms', and Halter, 'holder, bearer'. In heraldry a supporter is the figure, often a lion, that stands beside a shield holding it up. Wie ein Wappenhalter, 'like a heraldic bearer', describes the lion's fixed pose."}],"words":[{"surface":"Und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on saß","gloss":"And"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Löwe","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Löwe","lemma":"Löwe","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on saß","gloss":"lion"},{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Löwe","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"ein","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Wappenhalter","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"Wappenhalter","lemma":"Wappenhalter","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on wie","gloss":"heraldic bearer"}]},{"number":15,"label":"15","id":"die-aegyptische-maria-s5-l3","source":"saß dabei und hielt den Stein.","translation":"sat by it and held the stone.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-aegyptische-maria-s5-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"den Stein","title":"Accusative object","body":"Den Stein, 'the stone', is the accusative object of hielt, past of halten, 'to hold': the masculine article shifts from der to den to mark what is held. Dabei means 'by it, alongside.'"}],"words":[{"surface":"saß","lemma":"sitzen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"sat"},{"surface":"dabei","lemma":"dabei","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on saß","gloss":"by it"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on saß","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"hielt","lemma":"halten","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"depends on und","gloss":"held"},{"surface":"den","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Stein","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Stein","lemma":"Stein","morphology":"noun, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on hielt","gloss":"stone"}]}]}