# Fremde Familie · Strange Family

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

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

**1** So wie der Staub, der irgendwie beginnt  
Just as the dust, which somehow begins
> Extended comparison across stanzas: so wie, 'just as', opens a comparison completed only in the second stanza by so bildeten sie sich, 'so they took shape'. The whole first stanza is the wie half of the comparison, and the sentence stays open across the stanza break.

**2** und nirgends ist, zu unerklärtem Zwecke  
and is nowhere, toward some unexplained purpose
> zu always takes the dative: zu always takes the dative: zu unerklärtem Zwecke means 'for an unexplained purpose'. The -e on Zwecke is the old dative ending on the masculine noun der Zweck, kept here for the meter. unerklärt means 'unexplained'.

**3** an einem leeren Morgen in der Ecke,  
on an empty morning, in the corner

**4** in die man sieht, ganz rasch zu Grau gerinnt,  
one looks into, congeals quite swiftly into grey,
> Verb for curdling applied to dust: gerinnen means 'to clot, to curdle, to congeal', normally used of milk or blood. zu Grau gerinnt means 'congeals into grey'. in die man sieht, 'into which one looks', is accusative because the looking is directed into the corner it describes.


**5** so bildeten sie sich, wer weiß aus was,  
so they took shape, who knows out of what,
> Reflexive verb for taking shape: sich bilden is the reflexive verb 'to form, to come into being'. bildeten is its past tense. This line answers the so wie of the first stanza: so bildeten sie sich, wer weiß aus was, 'so they took shape, who knows out of what'.

**6** im letzten Augenblick vor deinen Schritten  
in the last instant before your steps,

**7** und waren etwas Ungewisses mitten  
and were something uncertain there in the midst
> etwas plus capitalized adjective noun: After etwas, 'something', an adjective is capitalized and nominalized with a strong neuter -es ending: etwas Ungewisses means 'something uncertain'. The same pattern gives etwas Schönes, 'something beautiful'. ungewiss means 'uncertain, indistinct'.

**8** im nassen Niederschlag der Gasse, das  
of the wet drizzle of the lane — which
> Noun spanning rain and sediment: der Niederschlag means both 'precipitation', as in rain or drizzle, and 'sediment, deposit'. im nassen Niederschlag der Gasse holds both senses, the wet that has settled over the alley. die Gasse means 'a narrow lane'.


**9** nach dir verlangte. Oder nicht nach dir.  
longed for you. Or not for you.
> verlangen nach governs the dative: verlangen nach means 'to long for, to crave', and governs the dative, hence nach dir, 'for you'. verlangte belongs to das, 'which', stranded at the end of the previous stanza, so the relative clause spans the stanza break.

**10** Denn eine Stimme, wie vom vorigen Jahr,  
For a voice, as if from the year before,

**11** sang dich zwar an und blieb doch ein Geweine;  
did sing to you, yet stayed a fit of weeping;
> zwar doch concedes then reverses: The pair zwar ... doch concedes then reverses meaning: 'it is true that ..., but yet ...'. sang dich zwar an uses the separable verb ansingen, 'to sing to someone', its prefix an parked at the line's end. das Geweine is a collective noun meaning 'continual crying'.

**12** und eine Hand, die wie geliehen war,  
and a hand, that was as if on loan,
> Past participle for borrowed: geliehen is the past participle of leihen, 'to lend, to borrow'. wie geliehen means 'as though on loan', as though the hand does not belong to the one offering it. die is the feminine relative pronoun agreeing with eine Hand.

**13** kam zwar hervor und nahm doch nicht die deine.  
did reach out, yet did not take your own.
> Possessive used as a standalone pronoun: die deine, 'yours', is the possessive dein used alone as a pronoun, here standing for 'your hand'. hervorkommen, 'to come forth', is separable: kam ... hervor. zwar ... doch again concedes then reverses: the hand came out yet did not take yours.

**14** Wer kommt denn noch? Wen meinen diese vier?  
Who is still coming, then? Whom do these four mean?
> Case marked on the question word: German marks case on the interrogative: wer is nominative, 'who', the subject; wen is accusative, 'whom', the object. Wer kommt means 'who is coming'; Wen meinen diese vier means 'whom do these four mean'. denn is a softening particle coloring the question.

---

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.