# Die Insel der Sirenen · The Island of the Sirens

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

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

**1** Wenn er denen, die ihm gastlich waren,  
When to those who had been his hosts,
> Hospitable to a guest: Gastlich means 'hospitable, welcoming to a guest', built on Gast, 'guest'. Here die ihm gastlich waren means 'those who were hospitable to him', naming the hosts who once took the traveler in and to whom he now tells his story.

**2** spät, nach ihrem Tage noch, da sie  
late, still after their day was done, when they
> A conjunction meaning when: Da is a temporal conjunction here, an elevated equivalent of als, 'when, as'. It opens the subordinate clause da sie fragten, 'when they asked', which continues across the next lines before its verb, fragten, arrives at the clause's end.

**3** fragten nach den Fahrten und Gefahren,  
asked after his voyages and his perils,
> Asking after something: Fragen nach means 'to ask after, to ask about' and takes the dative: nach den Fahrten und Gefahren, 'after the voyages and perils'. The two nouns Fahrten and Gefahren sound alike, pairing 'journeys' and 'dangers' in one phrase.

**4** still berichtete: er wußte nie,  
quietly told them: he could never know,
> Old spelling of wusste: Wußte is the simple past of wissen, 'to know'. The ß follows the pre-1996 spelling; today it is written wusste, since the vowel before it is short. Er wußte nie, wie means 'he never knew how', opening the long indirect question that fills the next stanza.


**5** wie sie schrecken und mit welchem jähen  
how to alarm them, and with what abrupt
> Sudden or abrupt: Jäh means 'sudden, abrupt, headlong'. Here it takes the ending jähen to agree with the dative noun Wort that follows in the next line: mit welchem jähen Wort, 'with what abrupt word'.

**6** Wort sie wenden, daß sie so wie er  
word to turn them, so that they, like him,
> Verb pushed to clause end: Daß, the old spelling of dass, 'so that', introduces a purpose clause whose conjugated verb is pushed all the way to the end, here sähen, four lines later. German regularly holds a clause's verb back like this across several lines.

**7** in dem blau gestillten Inselmeer  
upon the blue, becalmed sea of islands
> Stilled or becalmed: Gestillt is the past participle of stillen, 'to still, to calm, to quiet', used here as an adjective meaning 'stilled, becalmed'. Das blau gestillte Inselmeer means 'the blue, becalmed sea of islands', with Inselmeer a compound of Insel, 'island', and Meer, 'sea'.

**8** die Vergoldung jener Inseln sähen,  
might see the gilding of those islands,
> Subjunctive of sehen: Sähen is Subjunctive II of sehen, 'to see', meaning 'would see' or 'might see'. It is the main verb of the daß-clause begun two lines earlier, so the sentence reads 'so that they might see the gilding of those islands'.


**9** deren Anblick macht, daß die Gefahr  
whose sight is what makes the danger
> Genitive relative pronoun: Deren is the genitive plural relative pronoun, meaning 'whose' or 'of which', and refers back to jener Inseln, 'those islands'. Deren Anblick means 'the sight of which' or 'whose sight', naming what makes the danger described in the next line.

**10** umschlägt; denn nun ist sie nicht im Tosen  
turn over; for now it is not in the roaring
> A separable verb in use: Umschlagen means 'to turn over, to flip, to change abruptly', with the stressed prefix um-. In this subordinate clause the prefix stays attached and the verb stands last: daß die Gefahr umschlägt, 'that the danger turns over'.

**11** und im Wüten, wo sie immer war:  
and the raging, where it always was:
> Verbs used as nouns: Tosen, 'to roar or thunder', and wüten, 'to rage', are here capitalized and used as neuter nouns after im (in dem): im Tosen, im Wüten, 'in the roaring', 'in the raging'.

**12** lautlos kommt sie über die Matrosen,  
soundless it comes upon the sailors,
> Without any sound: Lautlos means 'soundless, noiseless', formed from Laut, 'sound', plus the suffix -los, 'without'. Lautlos kommt sie über die Matrosen means 'soundless it comes upon the sailors'. Über die Matrosen takes the accusative for motion toward them.


**13** welche wissen, daß es dort auf jenen  
who know that there, upon those

**14** goldnen Inseln manchmal singt–,  
golden islands, something sometimes sings–,
> An impersonal construction: Es singt is an impersonal construction: literally 'it sings', with no named subject doing the singing. It can be read as 'there is singing', naming the act of song without saying who performs it.

**15** und sich blindlings in die Ruder lehnen,  
and blindly throw themselves against the oars,
> Without looking: Blindlings means 'blindly, recklessly, without looking'. The suffix -lings forms adverbs of manner, as in rücklings, 'backwards'. Sich in die Ruder lehnen means 'to lean into the oars', a reflexive verb with in plus accusative.

**16** wie umringt  
as if encircled
> Surrounded on all sides: Umringt is the past participle of umringen, 'to surround, to ring around'. Wie umringt means 'as though surrounded'. Wie here works like als ob, introducing a comparison rather than asking a question.


**17** von der Stille, die die ganze Weite  
by the stillness, which holds the whole expanse
> An open expanse: Die Weite means 'the expanse, the open distance, vastness', from the adjective weit, 'wide, far'. Die ganze Weite, 'the whole expanse', is the accusative object of hat in the next line: the silence holds it in sich, 'within itself'.

**18** in sich hat und an die Ohren weht,  
within itself, and breathes against the ears,
> To blow or waft: Wehen means 'to blow, to waft, to breathe', usually of wind. An die Ohren wehen means 'to waft against the ears'. The accusative phrase an die Ohren marks motion toward the ears.

**19** so als wäre ihre andre Seite  
as though its other side were nothing
> An unreal comparison: So als wäre means 'as though it were' and triggers Subjunctive II: wäre is the past subjunctive of sein, 'to be'. Word order inverts after als in this construction, so the verb wäre comes before its subject, ihre andre Seite.

**20** der Gesang, dem keiner widersteht.  
but the song that no one can resist.
> A verb that takes the dative: Widerstehen means 'to resist, to withstand' and governs the dative, so its object appears as the dative relative pronoun dem: der Gesang, dem keiner widersteht, 'the song that no one resists'. Gesang means 'song'.

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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.