# Die Liebende · The Woman in Love

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

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

**1** Das ist mein Fenster. Eben  
That is my window. Just now
> Adverb of time: Eben here is the adverb of time, 'just now, a moment ago'. It marks something barely past and runs on into the next line, so 'just now I woke' reads as one clause across the break.

**2** bin ich so sanft erwacht.  
I woke so gently.
> Perfect tense with sein: erwachen, 'to wake up', is a change of state verb, so it forms its perfect with sein, not haben: ich bin erwacht, 'I woke'. bin is the finite verb in second position, and erwacht, the participle, goes to the end.

**3** Ich dachte, ich würde schweben.  
I thought I would be floating.
> Conditional with würde: würde is the Konjunktiv II of werden. With an infinitive it builds the conditional: ich würde schweben, 'I would float'. It reports the dachte-clause before it. schweben means 'to float, hover'.

**4** Bis wohin reicht mein Leben,  
How far does my life reach,
> Fixed phrase for distance: wohin is the directional question word 'to where'. bis wohin is a fixed phrase meaning 'up to where, how far'. The finite verb reicht, 'reaches', stays in second position after the question word.

**5** und wo beginnt die Nacht?  
and where does the night begin?


**6** Ich könnte meinen, alles  
I could imagine all of it
> Modal softens a claim: meinen here means 'to think, suppose', not 'to mean'. könnte is the Konjunktiv II of können, 'could', so ich könnte meinen is 'I could think, I could believe'. alles, 'everything', is its object.

**7** wäre noch ich ringsum;  
were still me, all around;
> Subjunctive in reported thought: wäre is the Konjunktiv II of sein, 'to be': 'were'. It continues the könnte meinen clause as an unreal supposition rather than a statement of fact. ringsum means 'all around'.

**8** durchsichtig wie eines Kristalles  
transparent as a crystal's
> Genitive ending in -es: eines Kristalles is genitive singular, 'of a crystal', governing Tiefe, 'depth', in the next line. Masculine and neuter nouns add -s or -es in the genitive; Kristalles keeps the fuller, older -es form.

**9** Tiefe, verdunkelt, stumm.  
depth, darkened, mute.
> Past participle used as adjective: verdunkelt is the past participle of verdunkeln, 'to darken', built from dunkel, 'dark', with the prefix ver-. Used adjectivally after Tiefe it describes the crystal depth as 'darkened'.


**10** Ich könnte auch noch die Sterne  
I could even still the stars

**11** fassen in mir; so groß  
hold within me; so great
> Infinitive carried from an earlier line: fassen means 'to grasp, hold, contain'. Its subject and modal, könnte, stand two lines above, so ich könnte ... die Sterne fassen in mir is 'I could hold the stars within me'. mir is dative 'me'.

**12** scheint mir mein Herz; so gerne  
my heart seems to me; so gladly
> Verb takes a dative person: scheinen means 'to seem, appear'; with a dative person it means 'to seem to someone'. so groß scheint mir mein Herz is 'so great does my heart seem to me'. mir is the dative of ich.

**13** ließ es ihn wieder los,  
it let him go again,
> Separable verb split by the clause: loslassen, 'to let go, release', is separable. The stem lasst, here liess, its past tense, stays in the verb slot, and the prefix los moves to the end: liess es ihn wieder los, 'let him go again'. ihn is accusative 'him'.


**14** den ich vielleicht zu lieben,  
him whom I perhaps began to love,
> Accusative relative pronoun: den is the masculine accusative relative pronoun, 'whom', pointing back to ihn in the line before. The clause's finite verb, begann, is held to the end, and the zu-infinitives zu lieben and zu halten depend on it.

**15** vielleicht zu halten begann.  
perhaps to hold began.
> Verb governs a zu-infinitive: beginnen, 'to begin', takes a zu-infinitive: zu lieben begann, zu halten begann, 'began to love', 'began to hold'. Because this clause is subordinate, opened by den, the finite verb begann is held to the very end.

**16** Fremd wie niebeschrieben  
Strange as never written of
> Coined compound word: niebeschrieben fuses nie, 'never', with beschrieben, the past participle of beschreiben, 'to describe, write down': 'never described, never written of'. fremd here means 'strange, unfamiliar'.

**17** sieht mich mein Schicksal an.  
my fate looks at me.
> Separable verb with inverted subject: ansehen, 'to look at', is separable: the stem sieht takes the verb slot and the prefix an goes to the end, sieht mich ... an, 'looks at me'. Because the sentence opens on an adverbial phrase, the subject mein Schicksal follows the verb.


**18** Was bin ich unter diese  
What am I, laid out beneath

**19** Unendlichkeit gelegt,  
this infinity,
> unter with the accusative: unter, a two-way preposition, takes the accusative, diese Unendlichkeit, because the laying down implies placement rather than a fixed location. gelegt is the past participle of legen, 'to lay'.

**20** duftend wie eine Wiese,  
fragrant as a meadow,
> Present participle of duften: duftend is the present participle of duften, 'to give off fragrance, smell sweet'; der Duft is 'scent'. eine Wiese means 'a meadow'. The whole phrase, 'fragrant as a meadow', modifies the implied subject of the sentence.

**21** hin und her bewegt,  
moved this way and that,
> Fixed pair for movement: hin und her is a fixed pair meaning 'to and fro, back and forth'; hin marks motion away, her motion toward. bewegt is the past participle of bewegen, 'to move'.


**22** rufend zugleich und bange,  
calling at once and afraid,
> Adjective related to Angst: bange means 'anxious, fearful, apprehensive', related to die Angst, 'fear'. rufend is the present participle of rufen, 'to call out'. zugleich means 'at the same time, at once'.

**23** daß einer den Ruf vernimmt,  
that someone may catch the call,
> Subordinate clause with daß: daß, 'that', subordinates the clause and sends its finite verb, vernimmt, to the end. vernehmen means 'to perceive, hear, catch a sound', more formal than hören. einer is 'someone', nominative subject; den Ruf, 'the call', is its object.

**24** und zum Untergange  
and for her undoing
> Noun for downfall: der Untergang means 'downfall, ruin, destruction', also the 'setting' of a star, from untergehen, 'to go down, sink'. zum Untergange is dative with the archaic -e ending, 'for, unto destruction'.

**25** in einem andern bestimmt.  
in another, ordained.
> Past participle meaning destined: bestimmt is the past participle of bestimmen, 'to determine, destine, ordain'; used predicatively it means 'destined, fated'. in einem andern, 'in another', is dative after in.

---

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.