# Die Erwachsene · The Grown Woman

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Das alles stand auf ihr und war die Welt  
All this stood upon her and was the world
> stehen auf, weighing on: stehen auf here means 'to weigh on, rest upon', not literal standing. stand is the past tense of stehen. auf ihr, 'upon her', takes the dative because it marks a fixed position, not motion toward a place.

**2** und stand auf ihr mit allem, Angst und Gnade,  
and stood upon her with everything, dread and grace,
> Dread paired with grace: die Angst means 'fear, dread, anxiety'; die Gnade means 'grace, mercy'. Both are dative here, in apposition to allem, 'everything', after mit: 'with everything, dread and grace'.

**3** wie Bäume stehen, wachsend und gerade,  
as trees stand, growing and upright,
> A participle used adverbially: wachsend is the present participle of wachsen, 'to grow', used here adverbially alongside gerade, 'upright, straight', to describe how Bäume, 'trees', stehen, 'stand'. German freely uses present participles this way without an ending.

**4** ganz Bild und bildlos wie die Bundeslade  
wholly image and imageless like the Ark of the Covenant

**5** und feierlich, wie auf ein Volk gestellt.  
and solemn, as if set up before a people.
> An elliptical comparison: wie auf ein Volk gestellt means 'as though set up before a people', short for wie [wenn sie] auf ein Volk gestellt [wäre]. gestellt is the past participle of stellen, 'to place, set up', comparing her to a monument positioned before a crowd.


**6** Und sie ertrug es; trug bis obenhin  
And she endured it; bore right up to the brim
> ertrug and trug, two pasts of bearing: ertrug is the past tense of ertragen, 'to endure, bear'; trug is the past tense of tragen, 'to carry, bear'. bis obenhin means 'right to the brim, all the way to the top', as of a vessel filled to its limit, to the very brim.

**7** das Fliegende, Entfliehende, Entfernte,  
the flying, the fleeing, the far-off,
> Adjectives turned into nouns: Fliegende, Entfliehende, and Entfernte are present or past participles used as nouns, each capitalized and taking a neuter noun ending: 'the flying [thing]', 'the fleeing [thing]', 'the far-off [thing]'. German regularly turns participles into nouns this way, with das as their article.

**8** das Ungeheuere, noch Unerlernte  
the monstrous, the not-yet-learned,
> An adjective turned monstrous noun: Ungeheuere is an adjective, 'monstrous, immense', turned into a noun by taking a capital letter and a neuter ending: 'the monstrous [thing]'. It stands alongside noch Unerlernte, 'the not-yet-learned', in the same list.

**9** gelassen wie die Wasserträgerin  
as calmly as the water-carrier
> The compound for water-carrier: die Wasserträgerin means 'the water-carrier', a compound of Wasser, 'water', and Trägerin, the feminine form of Träger, 'carrier, bearer'. It names the woman she is compared to, calm as one accustomed to carrying a full jug.

**10** den vollen Krug. Bis mitten unterm Spiel,  
her full jug. Until, in the midst of the play,
> Right in the middle of the game: mitten means 'in the middle of, in the midst'. unterm is a contraction of unter dem, 'under the'. das Spiel here means 'the play, the game' rather than a stage play. mitten unterm Spiel means 'in the very midst of the game'.

**11** verwandelnd und auf andres vorbereitend,  
transforming her and readying her for other things,
> vorbereitend, a participle used adverbially: vorbereitend is the present participle of vorbereiten, 'to prepare', used adverbially alongside verwandelnd, 'transforming'. auf andres means 'for other things', with andres as an indefinite pronoun, 'something else'.

**12** der erste weiße Schleier, leise gleitend,  
the first white veil, gently sliding,

**13** über das aufgetane Antlitz fiel  
fell over the opened face
> An elevated word for face: das Antlitz is a literary, elevated word for 'face, countenance', more solemn than Gesicht. aufgetan is the past participle of auftun, 'to open up', here used as an adjective: 'the opened face'.


**14** fast undurchsichtig und sich nie mehr hebend  
almost opaque and never lifting again
> sich hebend, a reflexive participle: hebend is the present participle of heben, 'to lift, raise'; with sich it means 'lifting itself'. sich nie mehr hebend means 'never lifting itself again', describing the face from the line before as it settles, unmoving.

**15** und irgendwie auf alle Fragen ihr  
and somehow, to all her questions,
> auf... Fragen, answering to: auf alle Fragen means 'to all questions', with auf marking what a response is directed toward. ihr, 'her', is a dative possessive here, modifying Fragen: 'her questions'. The clause's verb, wiedergebend, comes in the next line.

**16** nur eine Antwort vage wiedergebend:  
giving back only one vague answer:
> A participle for giving back: wiedergebend is the present participle of wiedergeben, 'to give back, return'. Paired with nur eine Antwort, 'only one answer', it describes the way she meets every question: by giving back one vague answer, and no more.

**17** In dir, du Kindgewesene, in dir.  
Within you, you who were a child, within you.
> A coined address to a former child: Kindgewesene is coined from Kind, 'child', plus gewesene, the past participle of sein used as an adjective, 'having been'. du Kindgewesene means 'you who once were a child', addressing the grown woman by the child she used to be.

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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.