# Ein Doge · A Doge

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

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

**1** Fremde Gesandte sahen, wie sie geizten  
Foreign envoys saw how they were stingy
> Envoy, ambassador: der Gesandte, 'envoy, emissary, ambassador', is a noun made from the past participle of senden, 'to send', literally 'the one sent', so it declines like an adjective: fremde Gesandte, 'foreign envoys'.
> To be stingy, to stint: geizen, 'to be miserly, to stint, to begrudge', comes from der Geiz, 'avarice'. wie sie geizten mit ihm means 'how they stinted with him'. wie here is the conjunction 'how', not the question word.

**2** mit ihm und allem, was er tat;  
with him and with all that he did;
> Preposition mit governs dative: geizen mit etwas means 'to be sparing with something', and mit always governs the dative: mit ihm, 'with him', mit allem, dative of alles, 'with everything'.

**3** während sie ihn zu seiner Größe reizten,  
while they were goading him toward his greatness,
> While clause sends verb last: während, 'while, whereas', is a subordinating conjunction, so its finite verb reizten, 'goaded, provoked', is pushed to the clause's end: während sie ihn zu seiner Größe reizten, 'while they goaded him toward his greatness'.
> To goad toward something: reizen means 'to provoke, incite, stimulate'; with zu plus dative it means 'to spur, goad someone toward' something: zu seiner Größe, 'toward his greatness' (dative seiner Größe).

**4** umstellten sie das goldene Dogat  
they hemmed the golden Dogeship around
> Verb-second after a clause: After the subordinate während-clause, the main clause inverts: the verb umstellten comes first and the subject sie follows. umstellen, stressed on -stéllen, is inseparable and means 'to surround, encircle, hem in'.


**5** mit Spähern und Beschränkern immer mehr,  
with spies and restrainers, more and more,
> Watchers and restrainers: der Späher, 'scout, watcher, spy', from spähen, 'to peer, scout', and der Beschränker, 'one who limits, curtails', from beschränken, are both dative plural after mit. immer mehr means 'more and more'.

**6** bange, daß nicht die Macht sie überfällt,  
afraid that the power might fall upon them,
> Anxious, and the fear clause: bange means 'anxious, afraid'; after a verb of fearing, German often adds an expletive nicht that carries no negation into English: bange, daß nicht die Macht sie überfällt, 'afraid that the power might fall upon them'.
> To attack, to fall upon: überfallen, 'to assault, ambush, fall upon suddenly', is inseparable. die Macht, 'the power', is the subject, sie, 'them', the accusative object of überfällt, the clause's final verb.

**7** die sie in ihm (so wie man Löwen hält)  
which they kept in him (the way one keeps lions)
> Relative pronoun reaches back: die opens a relative clause reaching back to die Macht, 'the power'; its verb nährten, 'nourished', waits at the start of the next line. so wie man Löwen hält uses impersonal man, 'one'.

**8** vorsichtig nährten. Aber er,  
warily nourished. But he,
> To nourish, to feed: nähren, 'to feed, nourish, sustain', is the relative clause's verb, landing at its end: die sie in ihm … vorsichtig nährten, 'which they warily nourished in him'. Aber er, 'But he', starts a new clause.


**9** im Schutze seiner halbverhängten Sinne,  
in the shelter of his half-curtained senses,
> Im Schutze governs the genitive: im Schutze, 'under the protection of', governs the genitive: seiner halbverhängten Sinne, 'of his half-veiled senses' (genitive plural). The -e on Schutze is an old dative ending kept for the rhythm.
> Half-veiled, half-curtained: halbverhängt is halb, 'half', plus the past participle of verhängen, 'to cover, drape, hang with cloth': 'half-curtained, half-draped'. die Sinne are 'the senses', genitive plural after Schutze.

**10** ward dessen nicht gewahr und hielt nicht inne,  
grew not aware of it and did not pause,
> Becoming aware, an old idiom: ward is the old, poetic simple past of werden, 'to become', today wurde. gewahr werden means 'to become aware of', and it takes a genitive object: dessen nicht gewahr, 'not aware of it'.
> To pause, to leave off: innehalten, 'to pause, stop short, leave off', is separable: hielt … inne, 'paused, halted'. hielt nicht inne, größer zu werden means 'did not stop growing greater'.

**11** größer zu werden. Was die Signorie  
to grow greater. What the Signoria
> A zu-infinitive completes a verb: größer zu werden, 'to grow greater', is a zu-infinitive completing hielt nicht inne from the line before. größer is the comparative of groß, 'big, great'.


**12** in seinem Innern zu bezwingen glaubte,  
believed it could subdue within him,
> Glauben zu plus infinitive: glauben with a zu-infinitive means 'to believe, think one is doing or can do something': zu bezwingen glaubte, 'believed it could subdue, master'. in seinem Innern means 'within him'.
> To subdue, to conquer: bezwingen, 'to subdue, vanquish, master, conquer', repeats three times across these lines in different forms: bezwingen, bezwang, bezwungen. Here it is the infinitive the Signoria hoped to perform.

**13** bezwang er selbst. In seinem greisen Haupte  
he himself subdued. In his aged head
> The sentence resolves, verb first: The long Was-sentence resolves here: Was die Signorie … zu bezwingen glaubte, bezwang er selbst, 'What the Signoria believed it could subdue, he himself subdued.' bezwang leads its clause, with er selbst, 'he himself'.
> Hoary, aged head: greis means 'aged, hoary, white with age'; das Haupt is the elevated, literary word for 'head', above everyday der Kopf. in seinem greisen Haupte keeps the old dative -e for the rhythm.

**14** war es besiegt. Sein Antlitz zeigte wie.  
it was vanquished. His face showed how.
> To defeat, a passive with war: besiegen means 'to defeat, vanquish'; war es besiegt is a passive built from war, 'was', plus the past participle besiegt, 'it was vanquished'. This is the third of the poem's conquest verbs.
> Countenance, and how it showed: das Antlitz is the elevated, poetic word for 'face, countenance'. Sein Antlitz zeigte wie means 'His face showed how', with wie used to mean 'how', the manner.

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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.