{"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-bettler","title":{"source":"Die Bettler","translated":"The Beggars"},"section":"New Poems: The Other Part","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/die-bettler","lines":12},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/aus-dem-leben-eines-heiligen","next":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/fremde-familie","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-bettler-s1-l1","source":"Du wußtest nicht, was den Haufen","translation":"You did not know what makes the heap","stanza":1,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-bettler-s1-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"wußtest","title":"Second-person past of wissen","body":"wußtest is the second-person singular past of wissen, 'to know a fact', spelled with ß in the old orthography; modern German writes wusstest. wissen is irregular: present du weißt, past du wußtest."}],"words":[{"surface":"Du","lemma":"du","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, singular","role":"depends on wußtest","gloss":"You"},{"surface":"wußtest","lemma":"wissen","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, second-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"knew"},{"surface":"nicht","lemma":"nicht","morphology":"particle","role":"depends on wußtest","gloss":"not"},{"surface":"was","lemma":"was","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on verb in next line","gloss":"what"},{"surface":"den","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Haufen","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Haufen","lemma":"Haufen","morphology":"noun, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on verb in next line","gloss":"heap"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"die-bettler-s1-l2","source":"ausmacht. Ein Fremder fand","translation":"it up. A stranger found","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-bettler-s1-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"ausmacht","title":"Separable verb kept together in a clause","body":"ausmacht completes was den Haufen ausmacht, 'what makes up the heap'. ausmachen is separable, and its prefix aus- normally moves to the clause end; in this was-clause the finite verb stays whole at that position."}],"words":[{"surface":"ausmacht","lemma":"ausmachen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence (continues a clause begun before this batch)","gloss":"makes up"},{"surface":"Ein","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Fremder","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"Fremder","lemma":"Fremder","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"subject of fand","gloss":"stranger"},{"surface":"fand","lemma":"finden","morphology":"verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"found"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"die-bettler-s1-l3","source":"Bettler darin. Sie verkaufen","translation":"beggars in it. They are selling","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-bettler-s1-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"darin","title":"Pronominal adverb for in it","body":"darin fuses da-, 'there', with the preposition in, meaning 'in it, inside that'. German uses darin rather than in ihm when referring to a thing rather than a person, here the Haufen, 'heap'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Bettler","lemma":"Bettler","morphology":"noun, accusative, masculine, plural","role":"object of fand (previous line)","gloss":"beggars"},{"surface":"darin","lemma":"darin","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on Bettler","gloss":"in it"},{"surface":"Sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on verkaufen","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"verkaufen","lemma":"verkaufen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"sell"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"die-bettler-s1-l4","source":"das Hohle aus ihrer Hand.","translation":"the hollow out of their hand.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-bettler-s1-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"das Hohle","title":"Adjective turned into a noun","body":"das Hohle is the adjective hohl, 'hollow, empty', turned into a neuter noun by adding -e and capitalizing it: 'the hollow thing, the emptiness'. German makes nouns from adjectives this way freely."}],"words":[{"surface":"das","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Hohle","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Hohle","lemma":"Hohle","morphology":"noun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"object of verkaufen (previous line)","gloss":"hollow"},{"surface":"aus","lemma":"aus","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Hohle","gloss":"out of"},{"surface":"ihrer","lemma":"ihr","morphology":"determiner, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Hand","gloss":"their"},{"surface":"Hand","lemma":"Hand","morphology":"noun, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on aus","gloss":"hand"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"die-bettler-s2-l1","source":"Sie zeigen dem Hergereisten","translation":"They show the one who has travelled here","stanza":2,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-bettler-s2-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Hergereisten","title":"Participle noun for a traveler","body":"Hergereisten comes from herreisen, 'to travel here'. Its past participle, hergereist, is made into a noun, der Hergereiste, 'the man who has journeyed here', shown here in the dative, dem Hergereisten. The prefix her- marks motion toward the speaker."}],"words":[{"surface":"Sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on zeigen","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"zeigen","lemma":"zeigen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"show"},{"surface":"dem","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Hergereisten","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Hergereisten","lemma":"Hergereister","morphology":"noun, dative, masculine, singular","role":"indirect object of zeigen","gloss":"one who has traveled here"}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"die-bettler-s2-l2","source":"ihren Mund voll Mist,","translation":"their mouth full of filth,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-bettler-s2-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Mist","title":"Noun for dung with no article","body":"Mist means 'dung, muck, refuse'. voll Mist, 'full of muck', takes no article after voll. The phrase is the second object of Sie zeigen, 'they show', from the line above."}],"words":[{"surface":"ihren","lemma":"ihr","morphology":"determiner, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Mund","gloss":"their"},{"surface":"Mund","lemma":"Mund","morphology":"noun, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"object of zeigen (previous line)","gloss":"mouth"},{"surface":"voll","lemma":"voll","morphology":"adjective, uninflected","role":"depends on Mund","gloss":"full of"},{"surface":"Mist","lemma":"Mist","morphology":"noun, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on voll","gloss":"filth"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"die-bettler-s2-l3","source":"und er darf (er kann es sich leisten)","translation":"and he may (he can afford it)","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-bettler-s2-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"kann es sich leisten","title":"Idiom for being able to afford","body":"sich etwas leisten können is the fixed idiom 'to be able to afford something'. sich is dative, 'for oneself', and es is the accusative object. darf, from dürfen, 'to be allowed to', means 'may'."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on darf","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"er","lemma":"er","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on darf","gloss":"he"},{"surface":"darf","lemma":"dürfen","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"may"},{"surface":"er","lemma":"er","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on kann","gloss":"he"},{"surface":"kann","lemma":"können","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the parenthetical clause","gloss":"can"},{"surface":"es","lemma":"es","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on leisten","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"sich","lemma":"sich","morphology":"pronoun, dative, singular, reflexive","role":"depends on leisten","gloss":"(for) himself","note":"sich etwas leisten is an idiom meaning \"to afford something.\""},{"surface":"leisten","lemma":"leisten","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"depends on kann","gloss":"afford"}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"die-bettler-s2-l4","source":"sehn, wie ihr Aussatz frißt.","translation":"to see how their leprosy devours.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-bettler-s2-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"frißt","title":"Animal verb applied to disease","body":"frißt, modern frisst, is the third-person form of fressen, the verb for an animal eating, 'to devour'. Applied to Aussatz, 'leprosy', it makes the disease the thing feeding. sehn is the clipped poetic form of sehen, 'to see'."}],"words":[{"surface":"sehn","lemma":"sehen","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"depends on darf (die-bettler-s2-l3)","gloss":"to see"},{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on frißt","gloss":"how"},{"surface":"ihr","lemma":"ihr","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Aussatz","gloss":"their"},{"surface":"Aussatz","lemma":"Aussatz","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"subject of frißt","gloss":"leprosy"},{"surface":"frißt","lemma":"fressen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the wie-clause","gloss":"devours","note":"fressen normally means \"to eat\" for animals; using it for a human disease is deliberately harsh."}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"die-bettler-s3-l1","source":"Es zergeht in ihren zerrührten","translation":"It melts away in their stirred-up","stanza":3,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-bettler-s3-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"zergeht","title":"Verb for dissolving","body":"zergehen means 'to dissolve, to melt away, to come apart'. The prefix zer- signals breaking into pieces. The subject is sein fremdes Gesicht, 'his foreign face', named two lines further down."},{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"zerrührten","title":"Coined participle for clouded eyes","body":"zerrührt is the participle of zerrühren, 'to stir up until broken apart', again with the disintegrating prefix zer-. It describes ihre Augen, 'their eyes', as churned and clouded."}],"words":[{"surface":"Es","lemma":"es","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on zergeht","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"zergeht","lemma":"zergehen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"melts away"},{"surface":"in","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on zergeht","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"ihren","lemma":"ihr","morphology":"determiner, dative, neuter, plural","role":"depends on Augen (next line)","gloss":"their"},{"surface":"zerrührten","lemma":"zerrührt","morphology":"adjective, dative, neuter, plural","role":"depends on Augen (next line)","gloss":"stirred-up"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"die-bettler-s3-l2","source":"Augen sein fremdes Gesicht;","translation":"eyes his unfamiliar face;","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-bettler-s3-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"fremdes Gesicht","title":"fremd spans foreign and strange","body":"fremd covers 'foreign', 'strange', and 'belonging to someone else'. sein fremdes Gesicht means 'his unfamiliar face'. Augen here completes in ihren zerrührten Augen, 'in their stirred-up eyes', carried over from the previous line."}],"words":[{"surface":"Augen","lemma":"Auge","morphology":"noun, dative, neuter, plural","role":"depends on in (previous line)","gloss":"eyes"},{"surface":"sein","lemma":"sein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Gesicht","gloss":"his"},{"surface":"fremdes","lemma":"fremd","morphology":"adjective, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Gesicht","gloss":"unfamiliar"},{"surface":"Gesicht","lemma":"Gesicht","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"subject of zergeht (previous line)","gloss":"face"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"die-bettler-s3-l3","source":"und sie freuen sich des Verführten","translation":"and they take joy in the one led astray","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-bettler-s3-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"freuen sich des Verführten","title":"sich freuen with a genitive object","body":"sich freuen normally takes über or auf; the literary construction sich einer Sache freuen instead uses the genitive, meaning 'to take joy in something'. des Verführten is genitive; der Verführte is the past participle of verführen, 'to lead astray', used as a noun."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on freuen","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on freuen","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"freuen","lemma":"freuen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"take joy"},{"surface":"sich","lemma":"sich","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, plural, reflexive","role":"depends on freuen","gloss":"(themselves)","note":"sich freuen (+ genitive) is an idiom meaning \"to take joy in, rejoice at.\""},{"surface":"des","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, genitive, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Verführten","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Verführten","lemma":"Verführter","morphology":"noun, genitive, masculine, singular","role":"genitive object of freuen","gloss":"one led astray"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"die-bettler-s3-l4","source":"und speien, wenn er spricht.","translation":"and spit, when he speaks.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/die-bettler-s3-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"speien","title":"Strong verb for spitting","body":"speien is a strong, old verb for spitting or spewing, harsher than everyday spucken. wenn er spricht means 'when he speaks'; speien is coordinated with freuen from the line before."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on speien","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"speien","lemma":"speien","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"coordinated with freuen (previous line)","gloss":"spit"},{"surface":"wenn","lemma":"wenn","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on spricht","gloss":"when"},{"surface":"er","lemma":"er","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on spricht","gloss":"he"},{"surface":"spricht","lemma":"sprechen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the wenn-clause","gloss":"speaks"}]}]}