# Im Saal · In the Hall

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Wie sind sie alle um uns, diese Herrn  
How they are all about us, these gentlemen
> Exclamatory wie with verb second: 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'.
> Gentlemen and lords: 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.

**2** in Kammerherrentrachten und Jabots,  
in chamberlain's costumes and jabots,
> A court dress: 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.

**3** wie eine Nacht um ihren Ordensstern  
like a night around its order's star,
> Star of an order: 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'.

**4** sich immer mehr verdunkelnd, rücksichtslos,  
growing ever darker, without restraint,
> Growing darker, reflexive participle: 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'.

**5** und diese Damen, zart, fragile, doch groß  
and these ladies, delicate, fragile, yet large
> The word doch means yet: 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.

**6** von ihren Kleidern, eine Hand im Schoß,  
by their dresses, one hand in the lap,
> Dative of place: 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.

**7** klein wie ein Halsband für den Bologneser;  
small as a collar for the bichon at her side;

**8** wie sind sie da um jeden: um den Leser,  
how they are there around each one: around the reader,
> Um takes the accusative: 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.

**9** um den Betrachter dieser Bibelots,  
around the beholder of these knick-knacks,
> The one who contemplates: 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'.

**10** darunter manches ihnen noch gehört.  
among which a good deal still belongs to them.
> Gehören takes the dative: 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'.


**11** Sie lassen, voller Takt, uns ungestört  
They let us, full of tact, undisturbed
> Lassen plus bare infinitive: 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'.

**12** das Leben leben, wie wir es begreifen  
live our life, the way we understand it
> A cognate object: 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'.

**13** und wie sie's nicht verstehn. Sie wollten blühn,  
and the way they do not understand it. They wanted to bloom,
> Wollen in the preterite: 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'.

**14** und blühn ist schön sein; doch wir wollen reifen,  
and to bloom is to be beautiful; but we want to ripen,
> Infinitive as subject and predicate: 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'.

**15** und das heißt dunkel sein und sich bemühn.  
and that means to be dark and to strive.
> To take pains, to strive: 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'.

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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.