{"work":{"slug":"rilke","title":{"source":"Neue Gedichte","translated":"New Poems"},"author":"Rainer Maria Rilke","language":"German","languageCode":"de","url":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke"},"unit":{"kind":"poem","number":null,"id":"frueher-apollo","title":{"source":"Früher Apollo","translated":"Early Apollo"},"section":"New Poems","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/frueher-apollo","lines":14},"previous":null,"next":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/maedchenklage","license":"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.","audioBase":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/","lines":[{"number":1,"label":"1","id":"frueher-apollo-s1-l1","source":"Wie manches Mal durch das noch unbelaubte","translation":"As many a time, through the still leafless","stanza":1,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s1-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"unbelaubt","title":"Un- makes the opposite","body":"belaubt means 'leafy, in leaf'. The prefix un- negates it, so unbelaubt means 'leafless, bare'. The adjective takes the ending -e because it stands before the noun Gezweig on the next line."}],"words":[{"surface":"Wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on Mal","gloss":"as"},{"surface":"manches","lemma":"mancher","morphology":"determiner, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Mal","gloss":"many a"},{"surface":"Mal","lemma":"Mal","morphology":"noun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"head of the phrase (time adverbial)","gloss":"time"},{"surface":"durch","lemma":"durch","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on durchsieht (governs Gezweig)","gloss":"through"},{"surface":"das","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Gezweig","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"noch","lemma":"noch","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on unbelaubte","gloss":"still"},{"surface":"unbelaubte","lemma":"unbelaubt","morphology":"adjective, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Gezweig","gloss":"leafless"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"frueher-apollo-s1-l2","source":"Gezweig ein Morgen durchsieht, der schon ganz","translation":"branches a morning looks through, one already wholly","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s1-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"das Gezweig","title":"A collective noun with Ge-","body":"The prefix Ge- on Zweig, 'branch', builds a collective noun. Das Gezweig means the whole mass of branches on a tree. German forms other collectives this way too, such as Gebirge from Berg."},{"kind":"grammar","term":"durchsieht","title":"Separable verb fused in a clause","body":"durchsehen, 'to look through', is a separable verb. Here it appears fused as durchsieht because it is the finite verb of a clause introduced by wie. Read the clause as ein Morgen durchsieht das Gezweig, 'a morning looks through the branches'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Gezweig","lemma":"Gezweig","morphology":"noun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on durch (object of the preposition, s1-l1)","gloss":"branches"},{"surface":"ein","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Morgen","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"Morgen","lemma":"Morgen","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"subject of durchsieht","gloss":"morning"},{"surface":"durchsieht","lemma":"durchsehen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"looks through"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"subject of ist (relative pronoun referring to Morgen)","gloss":"one"},{"surface":"schon","lemma":"schon","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"already"},{"surface":"ganz","lemma":"ganz","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on Frühling","gloss":"wholly"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"frueher-apollo-s1-l3","source":"im Frühling ist: so ist in seinem Haupte","translation":"in springtime: so, in his head, there is","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s1-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"das Haupt","title":"An elevated word for head","body":"das Haupt is a formal, literary word for the head, where everyday German says der Kopf. In seinem Haupte keeps an old dative ending -e, typical of this more formal, poetic word choice."}],"words":[{"surface":"im","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"Frühling","lemma":"Frühling","morphology":"noun, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on im","gloss":"springtime"},{"surface":"ist","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"verb of the relative clause (der...ist), modifies Morgen","gloss":"is"},{"surface":"so","lemma":"so","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"so"},{"surface":"ist","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence (existential: 'there is')","gloss":"there is"},{"surface":"in","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"seinem","lemma":"sein","morphology":"determiner, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Haupte","gloss":"his"},{"surface":"Haupte","lemma":"Haupt","morphology":"noun, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on in","gloss":"head"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"frueher-apollo-s1-l4","source":"nichts, was verhindern könnte, daß der Glanz","translation":"nothing that could prevent the radiance","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s1-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"könnte","title":"Subjunctive for a possibility","body":"könnte is the subjunctive form of können, 'can'. It marks something that could happen rather than something that does happen. nichts, was verhindern könnte means 'nothing that could prevent'."},{"kind":"grammar","term":"daß","title":"Verb sent to clause end","body":"daß is the older spelling of dass, 'that', printed here as Rilke wrote it. It opens a subordinate clause, so its verb moves to the very end of that clause. Here the verb, träfe, does not arrive until the next stanza."}],"words":[{"surface":"nichts","lemma":"nichts","morphology":"pronoun, neuter","role":"subject of ist (s1-l3)","gloss":"nothing"},{"surface":"was","lemma":"was","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"subject of könnte/verhindern","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"verhindern","lemma":"verhindern","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"depends on könnte","gloss":"prevent"},{"surface":"könnte","lemma":"können","morphology":"auxiliary verb, past, subjunctive, third-person, singular","role":"verb of the relative clause modifying nichts","gloss":"could"},{"surface":"daß","lemma":"daß","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on verhindern (introduces its clausal object)","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Glanz","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Glanz","lemma":"Glanz","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"subject of träfe (s2-l1)","gloss":"radiance"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"frueher-apollo-s2-l1","source":"aller Gedichte uns fast tödlich träfe;","translation":"of all poems from striking us almost mortally;","stanza":2,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s2-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"träfe","title":"Subjunctive of a strong verb","body":"träfe is the subjunctive form of the strong verb treffen, 'to strike, to hit'. Its stem vowel changes from e to ä in this form. It completes the daß clause begun earlier: 'that the radiance could strike us nearly to death'."}],"words":[{"surface":"aller","lemma":"aller","morphology":"determiner, genitive, plural","role":"depends on Gedichte","gloss":"of all"},{"surface":"Gedichte","lemma":"Gedicht","morphology":"noun, genitive, neuter, plural","role":"depends on Glanz (s1-l4)","gloss":"poems"},{"surface":"uns","lemma":"uns","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, plural","role":"depends on träfe","gloss":"us"},{"surface":"fast","lemma":"fast","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on tödlich","gloss":"almost"},{"surface":"tödlich","lemma":"tödlich","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on träfe","gloss":"mortally"},{"surface":"träfe","lemma":"treffen","morphology":"verb, past, subjunctive, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"would strike"}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"frueher-apollo-s2-l2","source":"denn noch kein Schatten ist in seinem Schaun,","translation":"for as yet no shadow is in his gaze,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s2-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"das Schaun","title":"An infinitive used as a noun","body":"Schaun is a poetic spelling of Schauen, the infinitive of schauen, 'to look, to gaze', used here as a neuter noun meaning 'the gazing' or 'the look'. German regularly turns infinitives into nouns this way. in seinem Schaun means 'in his gaze'."}],"words":[{"surface":"denn","lemma":"denn","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"for"},{"surface":"noch","lemma":"noch","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on Schatten","gloss":"as yet"},{"surface":"kein","lemma":"kein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Schatten","gloss":"no"},{"surface":"Schatten","lemma":"Schatten","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"shadow"},{"surface":"ist","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"is"},{"surface":"in","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"seinem","lemma":"sein","morphology":"determiner, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Schaun","gloss":"his"},{"surface":"Schaun","lemma":"Schauen","morphology":"noun, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on in","gloss":"gaze","note":"Poetic elision of 'Schauen' (gazing)."}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"frueher-apollo-s2-l3","source":"zu kühl für Lorbeer sind noch seine Schläfe,","translation":"too cool for laurel are his temples still,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s2-l3.m4a","notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"zu","lemma":"zu","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on kühl","gloss":"too"},{"surface":"kühl","lemma":"kühl","morphology":"adjective","role":"depends on sind","gloss":"cool"},{"surface":"für","lemma":"für","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on kühl","gloss":"for"},{"surface":"Lorbeer","lemma":"Lorbeer","morphology":"noun, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on für","gloss":"laurel"},{"surface":"sind","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"are"},{"surface":"noch","lemma":"noch","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on sind","gloss":"still"},{"surface":"seine","lemma":"sein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, plural","role":"depends on Schläfe","gloss":"his"},{"surface":"Schläfe","lemma":"Schläfe","morphology":"noun, nominative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on sind","gloss":"temples","note":"Poetic plural: elided form of 'Schläfen' (temples), matching the plural verb 'sind'."}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"frueher-apollo-s2-l4","source":"und später erst wird aus den Augenbraun","translation":"and only later, out of the brows, will","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s2-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"wird … heben","title":"Future verb split across lines","body":"wird is the auxiliary that builds the future tense with werden plus an infinitive. Its infinitive, heben, does not appear until the first line of the next stanza. German always forms the future this way, auxiliary first, infinitive last."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on wird","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"später","lemma":"spät","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on wird","gloss":"later"},{"surface":"erst","lemma":"erst","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on wird","gloss":"only"},{"surface":"wird","lemma":"werden","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence (future auxiliary with heben)","gloss":"will"},{"surface":"aus","lemma":"aus","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on wird","gloss":"out of"},{"surface":"den","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, dative, plural","role":"depends on Augenbraun","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Augenbraun","lemma":"Augenbraue","morphology":"noun, dative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on aus","gloss":"brows","note":"Poetic elision of 'Augenbrauen' (eyebrows), shortened for meter."}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"frueher-apollo-s3-l1","source":"hochstämmig sich der Rosengarten heben,","translation":"the rose-garden raise itself on tall stems,","stanza":3,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s3-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"hochstämmig","title":"A compound describing tall stems","body":"hochstämmig joins hoch, 'high', with Stamm, 'stem, trunk'. It describes plants grown on tall stems, raised clear of the ground, as roses often are. Here it describes how the rose garden rises."}],"words":[{"surface":"hochstämmig","lemma":"hochstämmig","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on heben","gloss":"on tall stems"},{"surface":"sich","lemma":"sich","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, singular, reflexive","role":"depends on heben","gloss":"itself"},{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Rosengarten","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Rosengarten","lemma":"Rosengarten","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"subject of heben","gloss":"rose-garden"},{"surface":"heben","lemma":"heben","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"main verb of the sentence (with wird, s2-l4)","gloss":"raise"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"frueher-apollo-s3-l2","source":"aus welchem Blätter, einzeln, ausgelöst","translation":"out of which petals, one by one, loosened,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s3-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Blätter","title":"Leaves or petals","body":"das Blatt, plural Blätter, means both 'leaf' and 'petal', as well as 'sheet of paper'. Following Rosengarten in the line before, these Blätter are rose petals."},{"kind":"grammar","term":"ausgelöst","title":"Past participle used as adjective","body":"ausgelöst is the past participle of the separable verb auslösen, 'to release, to detach'. Used to describe Blätter, it means the petals have come loose. They will drift down in the next line, in the verb hintreiben."}],"words":[{"surface":"aus","lemma":"aus","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on hintreiben (s3-l3)","gloss":"out of"},{"surface":"welchem","lemma":"welcher","morphology":"determiner, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on aus (refers to Rosengarten)","gloss":"which"},{"surface":"Blätter","lemma":"Blatt","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, plural","role":"subject of hintreiben (s3-l3)","gloss":"petals"},{"surface":"einzeln","lemma":"einzeln","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on Blätter","gloss":"one by one"},{"surface":"ausgelöst","lemma":"auslösen","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"depends on Blätter","gloss":"loosened"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"frueher-apollo-s3-l3","source":"hintreiben werden auf des Mundes Beben,","translation":"will drift down upon the trembling of the mouth,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s3-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"des Mundes Beben","title":"Genitive placed before its noun","body":"des Mundes is the genitive of der Mund, 'the mouth', meaning 'of the mouth'. Placed before its noun, des Mundes Beben means 'the shaking of the mouth'. Everyday German would instead say das Beben des Mundes."}],"words":[{"surface":"hintreiben","lemma":"hintreiben","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"depends on werden","gloss":"drift"},{"surface":"werden","lemma":"werden","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"will"},{"surface":"auf","lemma":"auf","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on hintreiben","gloss":"upon"},{"surface":"des","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, genitive, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Mundes","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Mundes","lemma":"Mund","morphology":"noun, genitive, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Beben","gloss":"mouth's"},{"surface":"Beben","lemma":"Beben","morphology":"noun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on auf","gloss":"trembling"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"frueher-apollo-s4-l1","source":"der jetzt noch still ist, niegebraucht und blinkend","translation":"which is as yet still, never-used and gleaming","stanza":4,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s4-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"niegebraucht","title":"A coined compound with nie","body":"niegebraucht fuses nie, 'never', with the past participle gebraucht, 'used'. Together they mean 'never used, still unused'. Rilke writes the two words as one for compression."}],"words":[{"surface":"der","lemma":"der","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on ist (relative pronoun referring to Mund)","gloss":"which"},{"surface":"jetzt","lemma":"jetzt","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"now"},{"surface":"noch","lemma":"noch","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"yet"},{"surface":"still","lemma":"still","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"still"},{"surface":"ist","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"is"},{"surface":"niegebraucht","lemma":"niegebraucht","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"never-used","note":"Rilke's own coinage: 'nie' (never) + 'gebraucht' (used)."},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on niegebraucht (coordinates with blinkend)","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"blinkend","lemma":"blinken","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on und","gloss":"gleaming"}]},{"number":13,"label":"13","id":"frueher-apollo-s4-l2","source":"und nur mit seinem Lächeln etwas trinkend,","translation":"and only, with its smile, drinking something in,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s4-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"blinkend … trinkend","title":"Present participles used as adjectives","body":"blinkend, 'gleaming', and trinkend, 'drinking', are present participles, formed by adding -d to the infinitive. Both describe the mouth. They present it in ongoing action rather than as a single finished event."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on trinkend (coordinates with blinkend, s4-l1)","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"nur","lemma":"nur","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on mit","gloss":"only"},{"surface":"mit","lemma":"mit","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on trinkend","gloss":"with"},{"surface":"seinem","lemma":"sein","morphology":"determiner, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Lächeln","gloss":"its"},{"surface":"Lächeln","lemma":"Lächeln","morphology":"noun, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on mit","gloss":"smile"},{"surface":"etwas","lemma":"etwas","morphology":"pronoun, neuter","role":"depends on trinkend","gloss":"something"},{"surface":"trinkend","lemma":"trinken","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on und","gloss":"drinking"}]},{"number":14,"label":"14","id":"frueher-apollo-s4-l3","source":"als würde ihm sein Singen eingeflößt.","translation":"as though its singing were being poured into it.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/frueher-apollo-s4-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"als würde","title":"A comparison marked as unreal","body":"als combined with the subjunctive würde marks an unreal comparison, close to 'as though'. würde ihm sein Singen eingeflößt means 'as though its singing were being poured into it'. einflößen means 'to instil, to pour something in'."}],"words":[{"surface":"als","lemma":"als","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on eingeflößt","gloss":"as though"},{"surface":"würde","lemma":"werden","morphology":"auxiliary verb, past, subjunctive, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"were"},{"surface":"ihm","lemma":"ihm","morphology":"pronoun, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on eingeflößt","gloss":"into it"},{"surface":"sein","lemma":"sein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Singen","gloss":"its"},{"surface":"Singen","lemma":"Singen","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"subject of würde","gloss":"singing"},{"surface":"eingeflößt","lemma":"einflößen","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"depends on würde","gloss":"poured"}]}]}