# Die Treppe der Orangerie · The Steps of the Orangery

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Wie Könige, die schließlich nur noch schreiten  
Like kings who in the end do nothing but pace
> A verb for solemn walking: schreiten is a strong verb meaning 'to walk with slow, measured steps', distinct from the plain gehen, 'to go'. It is present tense, third-person plural here, agreeing with die Könige, 'the kings', as its subject.

**2** fast ohne Ziel, nur um von Zeit zu Zeit  
almost without aim, only now and then

**3** sich den Verneigenden auf beiden Seiten  
to show themselves, in the cloak's solitude,
> Participle used as a noun: die Verneigenden, 'those bowing', is the present participle of sich verneigen, 'to bow', turned into a noun and declined like an adjective. Here it stands in the dative plural, den Verneigenden, as the indirect object of sich zeigen, 'to show oneself'.

**4** zu zeigen in des Mantels Einsamkeit–:  
to those who bow on either side—:
> Genitive placed before its noun: Modern German would put der Einsamkeit des Mantels last; here the genitive des Mantels is fronted before the noun it modifies, Einsamkeit, 'solitude'. This word order is older and more formal than ordinary prose.


**5** so steigt, allein zwischen den Balustraden,  
so climbs, alone between the balustrades
> so answers wie: so, 'thus', answers the wie, 'like', that opened the poem, completing the comparison. The verb steigt, 'climbs', comes first, but its subject die Treppe, 'the staircase', does not appear until later in the sentence.

**6** die sich verneigen schon seit Anbeginn,  
that have been bowing from the very first,
> Anbeginn, the very start: Anbeginn is an elevated word for 'the very beginning', as in von Anbeginn der Welt, 'from the beginning of the world'. seit Anbeginn, 'since the very first', takes the dative after seit.

**7** die Treppe: langsam und von Gottes Gnaden  
the staircase: slowly and by grace of God

**8** und auf den Himmel zu und nirgends hin;  
and toward the sky and nowhere at all;
> zu and hin marking direction: auf den Himmel zu means 'toward the sky', with zu placed after its noun to mark motion toward a goal. nirgends hin, 'to nowhere', uses hin, the particle for motion away from the speaker toward a destination.


**9** als ob sie allen Folgenden befahl  
as if it had commanded all who follow
> als ob with the indicative: als ob, 'as though', normally takes the subjunctive, here befähle. This line instead uses the plain past indicative befahl, 'had commanded'. allen Folgenden, 'to all those following', is dative because befehlen governs the dative.

**10** zurückzubleiben,–so daß sie nicht wagen,  
to stay behind—so that they do not dare
> zu inside a separable verb: zurückbleiben, 'to stay behind', is separable. In its zu-infinitive the zu is inserted between prefix and stem and written as one word: zurück-zu-bleiben, giving zurückzubleiben.

**11** von ferne nachzugehen; nicht einmal  
to follow even from afar; not even
> To follow after: nachgehen is a separable verb meaning 'to go after' or 'follow behind'; here it appears as the zu-infinitive nachzugehen. von ferne, 'from a distance', is a fixed adverbial phrase.

**12** die schwere Schleppe durfte einer tragen.  
was anyone allowed to bear its heavy train.
> The heavy train: die Schleppe is the trailing train of a robe, carried by attendants. durfte … tragen means 'was permitted to carry', with dürfen as the modal of permission and tragen, 'to bear', as its infinitive.

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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.