# Früher Apollo · Early Apollo

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Wie manches Mal durch das noch unbelaubte  
As many a time, through the still leafless
> Un- makes the opposite: 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.

**2** Gezweig ein Morgen durchsieht, der schon ganz  
branches a morning looks through, one already wholly
> A collective noun with Ge-: 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.
> Separable verb fused in a clause: 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'.

**3** im Frühling ist: so ist in seinem Haupte  
in springtime: so, in his head, there is
> An elevated word for head: 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.

**4** nichts, was verhindern könnte, daß der Glanz  
nothing that could prevent the radiance
> Subjunctive for a possibility: 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'.
> Verb sent to clause end: 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.


**5** aller Gedichte uns fast tödlich träfe;  
of all poems from striking us almost mortally;
> Subjunctive of a strong verb: 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'.

**6** denn noch kein Schatten ist in seinem Schaun,  
for as yet no shadow is in his gaze,
> An infinitive used as a noun: 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'.

**7** zu kühl für Lorbeer sind noch seine Schläfe,  
too cool for laurel are his temples still,

**8** und später erst wird aus den Augenbraun  
and only later, out of the brows, will
> Future verb split across lines: 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.


**9** hochstämmig sich der Rosengarten heben,  
the rose-garden raise itself on tall stems,
> A compound describing tall stems: 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.

**10** aus welchem Blätter, einzeln, ausgelöst  
out of which petals, one by one, loosened,
> Leaves or petals: 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.
> Past participle used as adjective: 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.

**11** hintreiben werden auf des Mundes Beben,  
will drift down upon the trembling of the mouth,
> Genitive placed before its noun: 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.


**12** der jetzt noch still ist, niegebraucht und blinkend  
which is as yet still, never-used and gleaming
> A coined compound with nie: 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.

**13** und nur mit seinem Lächeln etwas trinkend,  
and only, with its smile, drinking something in,
> Present participles used as adjectives: 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.

**14** als würde ihm sein Singen eingeflößt.  
as though its singing were being poured into it.
> A comparison marked as unreal: 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'.

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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.