# Die Gazelle · The Gazelle

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Verzauberte: wie kann der Einklang zweier  
Enchanted one: how can the harmony of two
> A participle used as address: Verzauberte is the past participle of verzaubern, 'to enchant, to cast a spell on', used here as a noun in direct address. Its -e ending marks a feminine singular addressee, matching die Gazelle. As a vocative, it stands outside the grammar of the sentence that follows.

**2** erwählter Worte je den Reim erreichen,  
chosen words ever attain the rhyme
> Genitive phrase split across lines: erwählter Worte is genitive plural, 'of chosen words', with erwählter the participle of erwählen, 'to select, choose out', agreeing with Worte, 'words'. The genitive begun with zweier on the line above completes here. The whole phrase serves as the subject of erreichen, 'attain'.

**3** der in dir kommt und geht, wie auf ein Zeichen.  
that comes and goes in you, as at a signal.
> auf plus accusative for a cue: auf ein Zeichen takes the accusative ein because it describes a response to a signal rather than a fixed place, giving 'at a sign, on cue'. The relative pronoun der reaches back to a noun named in the line before this one. kommt und geht describes something that arrives and leaves on that cue.

**4** Aus deiner Stirne steigen Laub und Leier,  
From your brow rise foliage and lyre,
> Preposition aus takes dative: aus means 'out of, from' and always governs the dative case, which gives deiner Stirne its ending, 'from your brow'. Laub means 'foliage, leaves' and die Leier means 'the lyre'. Both nouns are nominative because they are the subject of steigen, 'to rise'.


**5** und alles Deine geht schon im Vergleich  
and all that is yours moves already in likeness
> A possessive turned into a noun: alles Deine means 'everything that is yours, all of you'; the possessive dein is capitalized and inflected like a neuter noun after alles. geht is the main verb, with alles Deine as its subject. im Vergleich, 'in likeness', is dative after the preposition in.

**6** durch Liebeslieder, deren Worte, weich  
through love songs whose words, soft
> Genitive relative pronoun meaning whose: deren is the genitive plural of the relative pronoun der, meaning 'whose', agreeing with Liebeslieder, 'love songs'. Liebeslied itself is a compound of Liebe, 'love', and Lied, 'song'. The clause deren opens continues for several more lines before its verb, legen, appears.

**7** wie Rosenblätter, dem, der nicht mehr liest,  
as rose petals, lay themselves on the eyes
> A dative pronoun and its relative clause: dem is a dative pronoun, 'to him, on him', serving as the indirect object of a verb that follows in the next line. der nicht mehr liest is a relative clause describing dem, meaning 'who no longer reads'. Rosenblätter is the plural of Rosenblatt, literally 'rose-leaf', meaning 'rose petal'.

**8** sich auf die Augen legen, die er schließt,  
of the reader who reads no more, eyes he closes,
> Reflexive verb with auf: legen sich combines the verb legen, 'to lay', with the reflexive pronoun sich, so sich legen means 'to lay itself down, to settle'. auf die Augen takes the accusative because it marks motion onto a surface, the eyes. die er schließt means 'which he closes'.


**9** um dich zu sehen: hingetragen, als  
in order to see you: borne along, as
> um zu plus infinitive: um … zu plus an infinitive expresses purpose, 'in order to'. Festhalten, 'to hold fast', is separable, so the zu of the infinitive is inserted between the prefix and the stem, giving festzuhalten. Etwas is the pronoun 'anything' that festhalten takes as its object.

**10** wäre mit Sprüngen jeder Lauf geladen  
if every running were loaded with leaps
> Subjunctive marks a hypothetical comparison: als followed by verb second word order signals a hypothetical comparison and calls for the subjunctive; wäre … geladen means 'were loaded'. Der Sprung, plural Sprünge, means 'leap, bound', and der Lauf means 'a run, a course of running'. Mit Sprüngen geladen means 'loaded with leaps'.

**11** und schösse nur nicht ab, solang der Hals  
and yet did not fire off, so long as the neck
> A separable verb in the subjunctive: abschießen, 'to fire off, discharge', is a separable verb. Its subjunctive stem schösse stays in place while the prefix ab is parked at the end of the clause, so schösse nur nicht ab means 'only did not go off'.


**12** das Haupt ins Horchen hält: wie wenn beim Baden  
holds its head into listening: as when, bathing
> Infinitive turned into noun: horchen means 'to listen intently, to hearken', turned here into the neuter noun das Horchen, 'the listening'. ins Horchen uses in with the accusative to mean 'into', so das Haupt hält sich ins Horchen means 'holds its head into a state of listening'. das Haupt is an elevated word for 'head', used instead of the everyday Kopf.

**13** im Wald die Badende sich unterbricht,  
in the forest, the bathing girl breaks off,
> A participle turned into a noun: die Badende is the present participle of baden, 'to bathe', used as a feminine noun meaning 'the bathing woman'. It is the subject of unterbricht. sich unterbrechen is a reflexive verb meaning 'to interrupt oneself, to break off'.

**14** den Waldsee im gewendeten Gesicht.  
the forest lake in her turned face.
> Past participle used as an adjective: gewendet is the past participle of wenden, 'to turn', used here as an adjective and inflected after im, dative. Im gewendeten Gesicht means 'in the turned face'. Der Waldsee, a compound of Wald, 'forest', and See, 'lake', is the noun reflected in that face.

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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.