# Eranna an Sappho · Eranna to Sappho

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** O du wilde weite Werferin:  
O you wild far-flinging woman:
> A feminine noun for thrower: der Werfer means 'one who throws', built from werfen, 'to throw'. Adding -in makes it feminine, die Werferin, 'a woman who throws'. weit, 'far, wide', is added here to describe her as someone who throws things a great distance.

**2** Wie ein Speer bei andern Dingen  
Like a spear among other things
> bei always takes the dative: bei always takes the dative case. andern Dingen is the dative plural of andere Dinge, 'other things', marked by the ending -n. Here bei means 'among, alongside', so the phrase reads 'among other things'.

**3** lag ich bei den Meinen. Dein Erklingen  
I lay among my own. Your ringing out
> A possessive standing for family: die Meinen means 'my own people, my kin', a possessive used as a noun for one's family or household. After bei it takes the dative form, den Meinen. lag, from liegen, 'to lie', is the simple past.
> An infinitive turned into a noun: erklingen means 'to ring out, to start sounding'; the prefix er- marks the start of the action. Capitalized as das Erklingen, the infinitive becomes a noun, 'the ringing out'. Dein Erklingen means 'your sounding'.

**4** warf mich weit. Ich weiß nicht, wo ich bin.  
flung me far. I do not know where I am.
> A strong verb in the past: warf is the simple past of the strong verb werfen, 'to throw'. Its stem vowel changes from e to a instead of adding an ending. The subordinate clause wo ich bin sends its verb, bin, to the end, as such clauses do.

**5** Mich kann keiner wiederbringen.  
No one can bring me back.
> A separable verb kept whole: wiederbringen means 'to bring back'; wieder-, 'back, again', is its separable prefix. It stays joined here because it follows the modal kann as an infinitive at the end of the clause. Mich is fronted first for emphasis.


**6** Meine Schwestern denken mich und weben,  
My sisters think of me and weave,
> denken without its usual preposition: Standard German says an mich denken, 'to think of me', using the preposition an. Here mich stands alone as a direct accusative object of denken. weben, 'to weave', shares the same subject, Schwestern.

**7** und das Haus ist voll vertrauter Schritte.  
and the house is full of familiar footsteps.
> voll governs the genitive: voll, 'full', takes the genitive case: voll vertrauter Schritte means 'full of familiar footsteps'. vertrauter Schritte is the genitive plural of vertraute Schritte. vertraut means 'familiar, trusted'.

**8** Ich allein bin fern und fortgegeben,  
I alone am far away and given away,
> The past participle of give away: fortgegeben is the past participle of fortgeben, 'to give away, to hand over'; fort- means 'away'. Paired with fern, 'far away', it describes the speaker as someone removed and handed over to another.

**9** und ich zittere wie eine Bitte;  
and I tremble like a prayer;
> A plea, not the word for please: die Bitte means 'a request, an entreaty, a plea', from bitten, 'to ask, to beg'. It is not the everyday word bitte, 'please'. wie eine Bitte means 'like a plea', comparing the speaker's shaking to a plea held out.

**10** denn die schöne Göttin in der Mitte  
for the beautiful goddess at the center
> A conjunction that keeps normal order: denn is a coordinating conjunction meaning 'for, because'. Unlike weil, it does not send the verb to the end of its clause, so ordinary word order continues. in der Mitte, 'at the center', takes the dative after in here to mark position.

**11** ihrer Mythen glüht und lebt mein Leben.  
of her myths glows and lives my life.
> A genitive phrase split by a line: ihrer Mythen is the genitive plural of ihre Mythen, 'her myths'. It completes a phrase begun on the line before, die Göttin in der Mitte ihrer Mythen, 'the goddess at the center of her myths', with the noun phrase split across the line break.
> Verb and noun share one root: mein Leben, 'my life', is the accusative object of lebt, from leben, 'to live'. Verb and noun share the same root, leben and Leben, so the phrase reads plainly as 'lives my life'.

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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.