# Die Greisin · The Old Woman

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems: The Other Part

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

**1** Weiße Freundinnen mitten im Heute  
White-haired friends in the midst of the now
> Adjective implies white hair: weiss means 'white'; used of people it implies white-haired, aged. Weisse Freundinnen is 'white-haired women friends'; die Freundin is the feminine of der Freund, and Freundinnen is its plural.

**2** lachen und horchen und planen für morgen  
laugh and listen and plan for tomorrow,
> Verb for active listening: horchen means 'to listen attentively, to hark, to eavesdrop', an active straining of the ear, unlike hören, 'to hear'. The three present-tense verbs lachen, horchen, planen pile up in sequence.

**3** abseits erwägen gelassene Leute  
off to one side, composed folk weigh
> Verb for weighing a matter: erwägen means 'to weigh up, ponder, consider carefully'. abseits, 'off to the side, apart', sets these gelassene Leute, 'calm, composed people', apart from the others in the line before.

**4** langsam ihre besonderen Sorgen,  
slowly their particular cares,
> Object placed a line from its verb: The object ihre besonderen Sorgen, 'their particular cares', belongs to erwägen in the line above; German allows the subject gelassene Leute and its verb to stand a full line from the object. besonder- means 'particular, special'.


**5** das Warum und das Wann und das Wie,  
the why and the when and the how,
> Question words made into nouns: German turns the question words warum, 'why', wann, 'when', and wie, 'how', into neuter nouns by placing das before them: das Warum means 'the why of it'. Capitalized and articled, they name abstract questions rather than ask them.

**6** und man hört sie sagen: Ich glaube–;  
and one hears her say: I believe–;
> Verb of perception takes a bare infinitive: man is the impersonal 'one, people'; man hört sie sagen means 'one hears her say'. A verb of perception like hören takes a bare infinitive, sagen, 'to say', rather than a zu-clause.

**7** aber in ihrer Spitzenhaube  
but within her lace bonnet
> Compound noun for a lace cap: Spitzenhaube compounds die Spitze, 'lace', and die Haube, 'bonnet, cap, coif', the close lace cap traditionally worn by older women. in ihrer Spitzenhaube means 'within her lace bonnet'.

**8** ist sie sicher, als wüßte sie,  
she is certain, as if she knew,
> Subjunctive after als drops ob: wüßte is Konjunktiv II, past subjunctive, of wissen, 'to know'. After als, 'as though', German drops ob and brings the verb forward: als wüßte sie, 'as though she knew'.


**9** daß sie sich irren, diese und alle.  
that they are mistaken, these and all.
> Reflexive verb for being wrong: sich irren means 'to be mistaken, to err' and is reflexive: sie irren sich, 'they are wrong'. daß, older spelling of dass, opens the clause naming what she silently believes, so its verb irren stands at the end.

**10** Und das Kinn, im Niederfalle,  
And the chin, in its falling,
> Coined noun for a falling motion: Niederfalle is a poetic noun built from nieder, 'down', and fallen, 'to fall'. im Niederfalle means 'in the act of falling, sinking down', describing the chin gradually dropping.

**11** lehnt sich an die weiße Koralle,  
leans against the white coral,
> Separable reflexive verb with accusative: sich lehnen an means 'to lean against'; the separable prefix an and the reflexive sich belong together, and an takes the accusative, die weisse Koralle, because it expresses motion toward a resting point.

**12** die den Schal zur Stirne stimmt.  
which tunes the shawl to the brow.
> Verb borrowed from tuning: stimmen means 'to tune', as one tunes an instrument, and so 'to bring into accord, harmonize'. die den Schal zur Stirne stimmt means 'which tunes the shawl to the brow'; die is the relative pronoun subject.


**13** Einmal aber, bei einem Gelache,  
Once, though, amid a burst of laughter,
> Collective noun from a repeated action: Gelache, akin to das Gelächter, is a collective noun for 'laughing, a spell of laughter'. The prefix Ge- gathers a repeated or scattered action into one mass, as in Gerede, 'chatter'.

**14** holt sie aus springenden Lidern zwei wache  
she fetches from leaping lids two waking
> Verb-second order after a fronted phrase: Because the line opens on the adverbial Einmal aber, the finite verb holt, 'fetches, draws out', comes second and the subject sie follows it, standard German verb-second word order.

**15** Blicke und zeigt diese harte Sache,  
glances and shows this hard thing,
> Plural noun for glances: der Blick is 'a look, glance, gaze'; the plural Blicke completes zwei wache Blicke, 'two waking glances', begun in the line before. die Sache means 'thing, matter'.

**16** wie man aus einem geheimen Fache  
the way one, from a secret compartment,
> Noun for a compartment: das Fach means a 'compartment, drawer, pigeonhole'; aus einem geheimen Fache is 'from a secret compartment', the -e an older dative ending. wie man opens the simile that closes the sentence.

**17** schöne ererbte Steine nimmt.  
takes out beautiful inherited stones.
> Past participle for inherited things: ererbt is the past participle of ererben, 'to inherit, come into by inheritance', used here as an adjective: ererbte Steine means 'inherited stones', heirloom gems passed down.

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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.