# Die Gruppe · The Group

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

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

**1** Als pflückte einer rasch zu einem Strauß:  
As if someone were quickly gathering a bouquet:
> als with subjunctive, no ob: als here means 'as though', and with the verb moved to the front it drops the ob of als ob. pflückte is subjunctive II of pflücken, 'to pick, to pluck', marking the comparison as imagined. einer is the indefinite pronoun 'someone, one'.

**2** ordnet der Zufall hastig die Gesichter,  
chance hastily orders the faces,
> Chance, personified: der Zufall means 'chance, accident, coincidence', literally 'that which falls to one'. It is the grammatical subject of the sentence that follows across the stanza: Chance arranges the faces. ordnen means 'to arrange, to put in order'.

**3** lockert sie auf und drückt sie wieder dichter,  
loosens them apart and presses them tighter again,
> Separable verb auflockern: auflockern, 'to loosen up, make less dense', is separable: the stem lockert takes its place in the clause while the prefix auf is placed after the object sie. dichter is the comparative of dicht, 'dense, packed close'.

**4** ergreift zwei ferne, läßt ein nahes aus,  
seizes two far ones, leaves out a near one,
> Separable verb auslassen: auslassen means 'to leave out, to omit'; being separable, läßt stands here and aus falls to the end of the clause. läßt is the pre-1996 spelling of lässt. zwei ferne and ein nahes are nominalized adjectives, 'two distant ones', 'a near one'.


**5** tauscht das mit dem, bläst irgendeines frisch,  
swaps this one with that, blows one of them fresh,
> Some one or other: irgendein- means 'some ... or other, any random one'. The -es ending is neuter, agreeing with the understood Gesicht, 'face'. bläst ... frisch, from blasen, 'to blow', means it 'blows fresh' on that face.

**6** wirft einen Hund, wie Kraut, aus dem Gemisch  
throws out a dog, like a weed, from the mixture
> Greenery, weeds: das Kraut means 'herb, leafy plant, greenery', and in a bunch of flowers the unwanted filler-green. wie Kraut compares the discarded dog to a weed tossed from das Gemisch, 'the mixture, jumble'. aus ... werfen means 'to throw out of'.

**7** und zieht, was niedrig schaut, wie durch verworrne  
and draws what looks up from below, as through tangled
> Free relative was: was here is a free relative pronoun, 'that which, whatever': was niedrig schaut means 'whatever is looking up from down low'. niedrig, 'low', is adverbial. verworrne is the clipped poetic form of verworrene, 'tangled'.

**8** Stiele und Blätter, an dem Kopf nach vorne  
stalks and leaves, forward by the head
> Stems and leaves: der Stiel, plural Stiele, means 'stalk, stem'; das Blatt, plural Blätter, means 'leaf'. Stiele und Blätter, both accusative plural, are the object of zieht, 'draws', from the previous line. nach vorne means 'to the front, forward'.


**9** und bindet es ganz klein am Rande ein;  
and binds it in quite small at the edge;
> Separable verb einbinden: einbinden means 'to bind in, to tie into place'; being separable, bindet stands in the clause and ein closes it. es refers back to the figure drawn forward in the previous lines. am Rande, dative of der Rand, means 'at the edge'.

**10** und streckt sich wieder, ändert und verstellt  
and stretches up again, alters and shifts about,
> Reflexive sich strecken: sich strecken means 'to stretch oneself, to draw oneself up'. The reflexive sich turns the action back on the subject, der Zufall, 'chance'. verstellen means 'to shift, displace, rearrange' (also 'to disguise').

**11** und hat nur eben Zeit, zum Augenschein  
and has only just time, for the show,
> der Augenschein: der Augenschein, literally 'eye-appearance', means 'visible appearance, the look of a thing'. zum Augenschein means 'for the show, for the visible moment'. nur eben means 'only just, barely'.


**12** zurückzuspringen mitten auf die Matte,  
to spring back into the middle of the mat,
> zu inside a separable verb: The verb is the separable zurückspringen, 'to jump back'. In a zu-infinitive, zu is inserted between prefix and stem and the whole is written as one word: zurückzuspringen. It completes hat ... Zeit, ... zurückzuspringen, 'has time to spring back'.

**13** auf der im nächsten Augenblick der glatte  
on which in the next moment the smooth
> Relative pronoun with delayed verb: auf der means 'on which', a relative pronoun in the dative feminine, agreeing with die Matte, 'the mat'. German word order holds the finite verb until the end of the clause, so the subject and its verb arrive only two lines later.

**14** Gewichteschwinger seine Schwere schwellt.  
weight-swinger swells out his heaviness.
> A compound for the strongman: Gewichteschwinger joins Gewichte, 'weights', with Schwinger, one who schwingt, 'swings, heaves'. schwellt, from schwellen, 'to swell, bulge', takes seine Schwere, 'his heaviness', as its object.

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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.