{"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":"im-saal","title":{"source":"Im Saal","translated":"In the Hall"},"section":"New Poems","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/im-saal","lines":15},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/vor-dem-sommerregen","next":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/letzter-abend","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":"im-saal-s1-l1","source":"Wie sind sie alle um uns, diese Herrn","translation":"How they are all about us, these gentlemen","stanza":1,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s1-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Wie sind sie","title":"Exclamatory wie with verb second","body":"Here wie is not a question word but an exclamation, meaning 'how'. It pulls the finite verb sind into second position ahead of the subject sie. um uns means 'around us, about us'."},{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Herrn","title":"Gentlemen and lords","body":"Herr means 'gentleman, lord, master'. The plural here, Herrn, is a contracted spelling of Herren. diese Herrn, 'these gentlemen', refers to the men pictured in the paintings on the wall."}],"words":[{"surface":"Wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on sind","gloss":"how"},{"surface":"sind","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"are"},{"surface":"sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on sind","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"alle","lemma":"alle","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on sind","gloss":"all"},{"surface":"um","lemma":"um","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on sind","gloss":"about"},{"surface":"uns","lemma":"uns","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, plural","role":"depends on um","gloss":"us"},{"surface":"diese","lemma":"dieser","morphology":"determiner, nominative, masculine, plural","role":"depends on Herrn","gloss":"these"},{"surface":"Herrn","lemma":"Herr","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, plural","role":"depends on sind","gloss":"gentlemen"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"im-saal-s1-l2","source":"in Kammerherrentrachten und Jabots,","translation":"in chamberlain's costumes and jabots,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s1-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Kammerherrentrachten","title":"A court dress","body":"Kammerherrentrachten is a compound of Kammerherr, 'chamberlain', a courtier of a prince's household, and Tracht, 'costume, traditional dress'. It names formal court attire. The plural -trachten matches the several differently dressed men in the portraits. A Jabot is the lace or ruffles worn at the throat of an eighteenth century shirt."}],"words":[{"surface":"in","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Herrn","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"Kammerherrentrachten","lemma":"Kammerherrentracht","morphology":"noun, dative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on in","gloss":"chamberlain's costumes"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on Kammerherrentrachten","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"Jabots","lemma":"Jabot","morphology":"noun, dative, neuter, plural","role":"depends on und","gloss":"jabots"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"im-saal-s1-l3","source":"wie eine Nacht um ihren Ordensstern","translation":"like a night around its order's star,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s1-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Ordensstern","title":"Star of an order","body":"An Ordensstern is the star shaped badge of a knightly or honorific order, worn pinned to the coat. eine Nacht, 'a night', is the comparison used for the dark clothing, which gathers um ihren Ordensstern, 'around its decoration'."}],"words":[{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Nacht","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"eine","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Nacht","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"Nacht","lemma":"Nacht","morphology":"noun, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on verdunkelnd","gloss":"night"},{"surface":"um","lemma":"um","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Nacht","gloss":"around"},{"surface":"ihren","lemma":"ihr","morphology":"determiner, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Ordensstern","gloss":"its"},{"surface":"Ordensstern","lemma":"Ordensstern","morphology":"noun, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on um","gloss":"order's star"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"im-saal-s1-l4","source":"sich immer mehr verdunkelnd, rücksichtslos,","translation":"growing ever darker, without restraint,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s1-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"sich … verdunkelnd","title":"Growing darker, reflexive participle","body":"sich verdunkeln is a reflexive verb meaning 'to grow dark, to darken'. Its present participle verdunkelnd keeps the reflexive sich, so sich immer mehr verdunkelnd means 'growing ever darker'. The phrase modifies Nacht from the line above. rücksichtslos means 'ruthlessly, without consideration'."}],"words":[{"surface":"sich","lemma":"sich","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, singular, reflexive","role":"depends on verdunkelnd","gloss":"itself"},{"surface":"immer","lemma":"immer","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on mehr","gloss":"ever"},{"surface":"mehr","lemma":"mehr","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on verdunkelnd","gloss":"more"},{"surface":"verdunkelnd","lemma":"verdunkeln","morphology":"verb, present participle","role":"depends on Nacht","gloss":"growing darker"},{"surface":"rücksichtslos","lemma":"rücksichtslos","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on verdunkelnd","gloss":"without restraint"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"im-saal-s1-l5","source":"und diese Damen, zart, fragile, doch groß","translation":"and these ladies, delicate, fragile, yet large","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s1-l5.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"doch groß","title":"The word doch means yet","body":"doch here is the adversative 'yet, but, however'. The ladies are zart, 'delicate', and fragile, a French loanword Rilke keeps unmodernized, doch groß, 'yet large'. groß describes them because of the wide gowns named in the next line."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on sind","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"diese","lemma":"dieser","morphology":"determiner, nominative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on Damen","gloss":"these"},{"surface":"Damen","lemma":"Dame","morphology":"noun, nominative, feminine, plural","role":"depends on und","gloss":"ladies"},{"surface":"zart","lemma":"zart","morphology":"adjective","role":"depends on Damen","gloss":"delicate"},{"surface":"fragile","lemma":"fragil","morphology":"adjective","role":"depends on Damen","gloss":"fragile"},{"surface":"doch","lemma":"doch","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on groß","gloss":"yet"},{"surface":"groß","lemma":"groß","morphology":"adjective","role":"depends on Damen","gloss":"large"}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"im-saal-s1-l6","source":"von ihren Kleidern, eine Hand im Schoß,","translation":"by their dresses, one hand in the lap,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s1-l6.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"im Schoß","title":"Dative of place","body":"im is the fused form of in dem, dative, marking position rather than motion. eine Hand im Schoß means 'one hand in the lap', resting there. der Schoß means 'lap', also 'womb' in higher registers."}],"words":[{"surface":"von","lemma":"von","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on groß","gloss":"by"},{"surface":"ihren","lemma":"ihr","morphology":"determiner, dative, neuter, plural","role":"depends on Kleidern","gloss":"their"},{"surface":"Kleidern","lemma":"Kleid","morphology":"noun, dative, neuter, plural","role":"depends on von","gloss":"dresses"},{"surface":"eine","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Hand","gloss":"one"},{"surface":"Hand","lemma":"Hand","morphology":"noun, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Damen","gloss":"hand"},{"surface":"im","lemma":"in","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Hand","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"Schoß","lemma":"Schoß","morphology":"noun, dative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on im","gloss":"lap"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"im-saal-s1-l7","source":"klein wie ein Halsband für den Bologneser;","translation":"small as a collar for the bichon at her side;","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s1-l7.m4a","notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"klein","lemma":"klein","morphology":"adjective","role":"depends on Hand","gloss":"small"},{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Halsband","gloss":"as"},{"surface":"ein","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Halsband","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"Halsband","lemma":"Halsband","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on klein","gloss":"collar"},{"surface":"für","lemma":"für","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Halsband","gloss":"for"},{"surface":"den","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Bologneser","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Bologneser","lemma":"Bologneser","morphology":"noun, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on für","gloss":"bichon","note":"'Bologneser' names the Bolognese, a small white lapdog breed fashionable among aristocratic ladies — not a person's name."}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"im-saal-s1-l8","source":"wie sind sie da um jeden: um den Leser,","translation":"how they are there around each one: around the reader,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s1-l8.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"um jeden","title":"Um takes the accusative","body":"The preposition um, 'around, about', always takes the accusative. jeden is the accusative of jeder, 'each one, everyone'. den Leser, 'the reader', is likewise accusative, repeating the same construction as um jeden."}],"words":[{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on sind","gloss":"how"},{"surface":"sind","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"are"},{"surface":"sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on sind","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"da","lemma":"da","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on sind","gloss":"there"},{"surface":"um","lemma":"um","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on sind","gloss":"around"},{"surface":"jeden","lemma":"jeder","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on um","gloss":"each one"},{"surface":"um","lemma":"um","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on jeden","gloss":"around"},{"surface":"den","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Leser","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Leser","lemma":"Leser","morphology":"noun, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on um","gloss":"reader"}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"im-saal-s1-l9","source":"um den Betrachter dieser Bibelots,","translation":"around the beholder of these knick-knacks,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s1-l9.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Betrachter","title":"The one who contemplates","body":"der Betrachter means 'the viewer, beholder, contemplator', from betrachten, 'to look at attentively'. Bibelots is a French loanword, plural, for ornamental trinkets, 'knick-knacks'. dieser Bibelots is genitive, 'of these trinkets'."}],"words":[{"surface":"um","lemma":"um","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on jeden","gloss":"around"},{"surface":"den","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Betrachter","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Betrachter","lemma":"Betrachter","morphology":"noun, accusative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on um","gloss":"beholder"},{"surface":"dieser","lemma":"dieser","morphology":"determiner, genitive, masculine, plural","role":"depends on Bibelots","gloss":"these"},{"surface":"Bibelots","lemma":"Bibelot","morphology":"noun, genitive, masculine, plural","role":"depends on Betrachter","gloss":"knick-knacks"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"im-saal-s1-l10","source":"darunter manches ihnen noch gehört.","translation":"among which a good deal still belongs to them.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s1-l10.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"ihnen … gehört","title":"Gehören takes the dative","body":"gehören, 'to belong to', governs the dative: the owner stands in the dative, not the accusative. ihnen, 'to them', is that dative, and manches, 'many a thing, a good deal', is the nominative subject. So manches gehört ihnen means 'a good deal belongs to them'. darunter means 'among them, among which'."}],"words":[{"surface":"darunter","lemma":"darunter","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on gehört","gloss":"among which"},{"surface":"manches","lemma":"mancher","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on gehört","gloss":"a good deal"},{"surface":"ihnen","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, dative, plural","role":"depends on gehört","gloss":"them"},{"surface":"noch","lemma":"noch","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on gehört","gloss":"still"},{"surface":"gehört","lemma":"gehören","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"belongs"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"im-saal-s2-l1","source":"Sie lassen, voller Takt, uns ungestört","translation":"They let us, full of tact, undisturbed","stanza":2,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s2-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Sie lassen … uns … leben","title":"Lassen plus bare infinitive","body":"lassen, 'to let, to allow', takes a bare infinitive without zu, and that infinitive waits at the end of the next line: Sie lassen uns das Leben leben means 'they let us live our life'. uns is the accusative object, ungestört, 'undisturbed', is a predicate adjective, and voller Takt means 'full of tact'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on lassen","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"lassen","lemma":"lassen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"let"},{"surface":"voller","lemma":"voll","morphology":"adjective","role":"depends on Sie","gloss":"full of"},{"surface":"Takt","lemma":"Takt","morphology":"noun, nominative, masculine, singular","role":"depends on voller","gloss":"tact"},{"surface":"uns","lemma":"uns","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, plural","role":"depends on lassen","gloss":"us"},{"surface":"ungestört","lemma":"ungestört","morphology":"adjective","role":"depends on uns","gloss":"undisturbed"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"im-saal-s2-l2","source":"das Leben leben, wie wir es begreifen","translation":"live our life, the way we understand it","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s2-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"das Leben leben","title":"A cognate object","body":"Noun and verb share a root: das Leben, 'life', is the object of leben, 'to live'. This figura etymologica means 'to live life, to live out one's life'. wie wir es begreifen means 'the way we understand it'."}],"words":[{"surface":"das","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Leben","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Leben","lemma":"Leben","morphology":"noun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on leben","gloss":"life"},{"surface":"leben","lemma":"leben","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"depends on lassen","gloss":"live"},{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on begreifen","gloss":"the way"},{"surface":"wir","lemma":"wir","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on begreifen","gloss":"we"},{"surface":"es","lemma":"es","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on begreifen","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"begreifen","lemma":"begreifen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, first-person, plural","role":"depends on wie","gloss":"understand"}]},{"number":13,"label":"13","id":"im-saal-s2-l3","source":"und wie sie's nicht verstehn. Sie wollten blühn,","translation":"and the way they do not understand it. They wanted to bloom,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s2-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Sie wollten blühn","title":"Wollen in the preterite","body":"wollten is the simple past of wollen, 'to want', and it governs the bare infinitive blühn, a poetic spelling of blühen, 'to bloom'. sie's contracts sie es, 'they it'. Sie wollten blühn means 'they wanted to bloom'."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on begreifen","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on verstehn","gloss":"the way"},{"surface":"sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on verstehn","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"'s","lemma":"es","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on verstehn","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"nicht","lemma":"nicht","morphology":"particle","role":"depends on verstehn","gloss":"not"},{"surface":"verstehn","lemma":"verstehen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"depends on wie","gloss":"understand"},{"surface":"Sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on wollten","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"wollten","lemma":"wollen","morphology":"auxiliary verb, past, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"wanted"},{"surface":"blühn","lemma":"blühen","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"depends on wollten","gloss":"bloom"}]},{"number":14,"label":"14","id":"im-saal-s2-l4","source":"und blühn ist schön sein; doch wir wollen reifen,","translation":"and to bloom is to be beautiful; but we want to ripen,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s2-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"blühn ist schön sein","title":"Infinitive as subject and predicate","body":"Both sides of the sentence use bare infinitives as nouns: blühn ist schön sein means 'to bloom is to be beautiful'. German lets an infinitive stand as subject, 'to bloom', and as predicate, 'to be beautiful'. doch wir wollen reifen answers it, 'but we want to ripen'."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"blühn","lemma":"blühen","morphology":"noun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"to bloom"},{"surface":"ist","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"is"},{"surface":"schön","lemma":"schön","morphology":"adjective","role":"depends on sein","gloss":"beautiful"},{"surface":"sein","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, infinitive","role":"depends on ist","gloss":"to be"},{"surface":"doch","lemma":"doch","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on wollen","gloss":"but"},{"surface":"wir","lemma":"wir","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on wollen","gloss":"we"},{"surface":"wollen","lemma":"wollen","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, first-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"want"},{"surface":"reifen","lemma":"reifen","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"depends on wollen","gloss":"ripen"}]},{"number":15,"label":"15","id":"im-saal-s2-l5","source":"und das heißt dunkel sein und sich bemühn.","translation":"and that means to be dark and to strive.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/im-saal-s2-l5.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"sich bemühn","title":"To take pains, to strive","body":"sich bemühen is a reflexive verb meaning 'to exert oneself, to take pains, to strive'. The infinitive bemühn, short for bemühen, keeps the reflexive sich. das heißt means 'that means'. dunkel sein und sich bemühn means 'being dark and striving'."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on heißt","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"das","lemma":"der","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on heißt","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"heißt","lemma":"heißen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"means"},{"surface":"dunkel","lemma":"dunkel","morphology":"adjective","role":"depends on sein","gloss":"dark"},{"surface":"sein","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, infinitive","role":"depends on heißt","gloss":"to be"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on heißt","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"sich","lemma":"sich","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, singular, reflexive","role":"depends on bemühn","gloss":"itself"},{"surface":"bemühn","lemma":"bemühen","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"depends on heißt","gloss":"strive","note":"'sich bemühn' (elided from 'sich bemühen') means 'to strive/make an effort,' parallel to 'dunkel sein' above."}]}]}