# Die Irren · The Madmen

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

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

**1** Und sie schweigen, weil die Scheidewände  
And they are silent, because the dividing walls
> Compound noun for dividing wall: Scheidewände is the plural of Scheidewand, built from scheiden, 'to separate, divide', and Wand, 'wall'. A Scheidewand is a partition, an inner wall between rooms, or in anatomy a septum.

**2** weggenommen sind aus ihrem Sinn,  
have been taken away out of their mind,
> Separable verb in the passive: wegnehmen, 'to take away', is separable, built from weg, 'away', and nehmen, 'to take'. Here it appears as a passive, sind weggenommen, 'have been taken away', with the past participle keeping its prefix attached.

**3** und die Stunden, da man sie verstände,  
and the hours in which one might understand them
> Konjunktiv II for a hoped-for case: verstände is Konjunktiv II, past subjunctive, of verstehen, 'to understand', marking something hypothetical rather than real. The relative da here is an old literary form of in denen, 'in which'.

**4** heben an und gehen hin.  
begin and pass away.
> Separable verb anheben split apart: heben an is the separable verb anheben split apart, an elevated, old-fashioned word for 'to begin, to set in'. It pairs with gehen hin, 'to go away, to pass', the two verbs framing a brief arc.


**5** Nächtens oft, wenn sie ans Fenster treten:  
Often at night, when they step to the window:
> Literary adverb for at night: nächtens is a poetic adverb meaning 'at night, by night', formed from Nacht, 'night'. It is rare and literary; everyday German instead says nachts.
> an plus accusative for motion toward: ans contracts an das. With a verb of motion like treten, 'to step', an takes the accusative das Fenster to express movement toward, 'to step up to the window'. With a static verb it would instead take the dative, am Fenster, 'at the window'.

**6** plötzlich ist es alles gut.  
suddenly everything is well.

**7** Ihre Hände liegen im Konkreten,  
Their hands rest in the concrete,
> Adjective turned into a noun: konkret, 'concrete, tangible', is turned into the neuter noun das Konkrete, declined in the dative after in. im Konkreten means 'in the concrete', in the real, graspable world.

**8** und das Herz ist hoch und könnte beten,  
and the heart is lifted high and could pray,
> Konjunktiv II states a possibility: könnte is Konjunktiv II of können, 'can'. It states a possibility short of fact: the heart könnte beten, 'could pray', meaning it is able to but the sentence does not say it does.

**9** und die Augen schauen ausgeruht  
and the eyes gaze, rested,
> Past participle used as adverb: ausgeruht is the past participle of sich ausruhen, 'to rest, to recover', used here as an adverb meaning 'rested, at ease'. It describes how die Augen schauen, 'the eyes gaze'.


**10** auf den unverhofften, oftentstellten  
upon the unhoped-for, often-disfigured
> Coined and ordinary compound adjectives: unverhofft means 'unhoped-for, unexpected', from verhoffen, 'to hope for'. oftentstellt is Rilke's coinage, joining oft, 'often', and entstellt, 'disfigured'. Both adjectives decline to agree with Garten in the next line.

**11** Garten im beruhigten Geviert,  
garden in its quieted square,
> Literary noun for a square enclosure: das Geviert is a literary word for a square or quadrangle, a four-sided enclosed space. Here it names the walled courtyard garden seen from the window. beruhigt, from beruhigen, 'to calm', means 'calmed, quieted'.

**12** der im Widerschein der fremden Welten  
which in the reflected glow of the alien worlds
> Compound noun for reflected light: der Widerschein means reflected light or a gleam thrown back, from wider, 'back, against', and Schein, 'shine, glow'. Here der, the relative pronoun, reaches back to Garten, opening the clause that closes the poem.

**13** weiterwächst und niemals sich verliert.  
grows on and never loses itself.
> Separable verb weiterwachsen: weiterwächst is the separable verb weiterwachsen, 'to keep growing', held together here because it stands at the end of a relative clause. sich verlieren is reflexive, 'to lose oneself', paired with niemals, 'never'.

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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.