# Die Kurtisane · The Courtesan

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Venedigs Sonne wird in meinem Haar  
Venice's sun will work within my hair
> Genitive of a place name: Venedigs is the genitive of Venedig, 'Venice', formed with a plain -s and no apostrophe, the same pattern as Berlins or Roms. Venedigs Sonne means 'Venice's sun', the subject of the sentence.

**2** ein Gold bereiten: aller Alchemie  
a gold prepare: of all of alchemy
> Future with werden: wird … bereiten is the future tense: werden as auxiliary plus the infinitive bereiten, 'to prepare'. The infinitive is pushed to the end of its clause, landing on line 2, one line after wird.

**3** erlauchten Ausgang. Meine Brauen, die  
its noblest outcome. And my brows, which
> erlaucht, illustrious: erlaucht means 'illustrious, noble, exalted', an old aristocratic adjective once used for princes. der Ausgang means 'outcome' or 'end result'. erlauchten Ausgang, with the accusative ending after aller Alchemie, means 'the illustrious outcome'.

**4** den Brücken gleichen, siehst du sie  
resemble bridges — do you see them
> gleichen takes the dative: gleichen, 'to resemble', governs the dative, so its object den Brücken carries the dative plural ending -n. die is the relative pronoun 'which', and it sends the verb gleichen to the end of its clause.


**5** hinführen ob der lautlosen Gefahr  
lead onward over the soundless peril
> To lead toward: hinführen is the separable verb hin·führen, 'to lead' or 'conduct toward' a point away from the speaker. Here it is the verb of the relative clause begun the line before, with die as its subject.
> ob meaning over: Here ob is not the conjunction 'whether' but an older preposition meaning 'over, above', taking the genitive. der lautlosen Gefahr is genitive after it, so the phrase means 'over the soundless peril'.

**6** der Augen, die ein heimlicher Verkehr  
of the eyes, which a clandestine traffic
> der Verkehr, traffic: der Verkehr means 'traffic, circulation', or 'dealings', the coming and going of people or vessels. ein heimlicher Verkehr, 'a clandestine traffic', is nominative here and is the subject of schließt in the next line.

**7** an die Kanäle schließt, so daß das Meer  
binds to the canals, so that the sea
> Separable verb anschließen: anschließen, 'to connect' or 'link', is separable. Its prefix an stands at the head of the clause while the conjugated stem schließt sits at the end, so schließt … an is one verb split across the line.

**8** in ihnen steigt und fällt und wechselt. Wer  
rises and falls and shifts in them. Whoever


**9** mich einmal sah, beneidet meinen Hund,  
once has seen me envies my own dog,
> wer as whoever: wer used without an antecedent opens a free relative clause meaning 'whoever' or 'anyone who'. Wer mich einmal sah is itself the subject of the main verb beneidet, 'envies'. sah is the simple past of sehen, 'to see'.

**10** weil sich auf ihm oft in zerstreuter Pause  
because upon him, in some idle pause,
> weil sends the verb to the end: weil, 'because', is a subordinating conjunction, so the finite verb is held to the end of its clause. Here that verb is erholt, from sich erholen, 'to rest', which does not appear until later in the sentence.
> zerstreut, absent-minded: zerstreut literally means 'scattered', and figuratively 'absent-minded' or 'distracted'. in zerstreuter Pause, with the dative feminine ending after in, means 'in an absent-minded pause'.

**11** die Hand, die nie an keiner Glut verkohlt,  
the hand, which no ember has ever charred,
> Two negatives for emphasis: nie, 'never', and keiner, 'no' or 'not any', stack two negatives here for emphasis rather than cancelling each other, an older usage meaning 'never charred by any ember at all'. die Glut means 'ember', and verkohlen means 'to char'.


**12** die unverwundbare, geschmückt, erholt–.  
the invulnerable, adorned one, rests—.
> un- plus verwundbar: unverwundbar means 'invulnerable', built from the negating prefix un- and verwundbar, 'woundable', itself from verwunden, 'to wound'. die unverwundbare, feminine nominative, resumes die Hand as the subject of erholt.

**13** Und Knaben, Hoffnungen aus altem Hause,  
And boys, the hopes of some old noble house,
> der Knabe, boy: der Knabe, plural die Knaben, means 'boy' or 'youth', an elevated and now old-fashioned word. Hoffnungen aus altem Hause, 'hopes of an old house', stands in apposition to Knaben, naming what the boys are.

**14** gehn wie an Gift an meinem Mund zugrund.  
go, as on poison, to their ruin on my mouth.
> zugrunde gehen, to perish: zugrunde gehen is a fixed expression meaning 'to perish' or 'be ruined', clipped here to gehn … zugrund to fit the meter. gehn is the poetic short form of gehen, 'to go', and zugrund is its separated adverb at the clause's end.

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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.