# Jeremias · Jeremiah

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

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

**1** Einmal war ich weich wie früher Weizen,  
Once I was soft as early wheat,
> Adjective früher, early: früher, 'early', modifies Weizen, 'wheat', both nominative masculine singular. weich wie früher Weizen means 'soft as early wheat', comparing the speaker's former softness to young grain not yet hardened.

**2** doch, du Rasender, du hast vermocht,  
but you, you raging one, you had the power
> Adjective as noun, Rasender: Rasender is the present participle rasend, 'raging', used as a noun by capitalizing it: 'raging one'. du Rasender directly addresses this figure. It declines like an adjective, here nominative masculine singular.

**3** mir das hingehaltne Herz zu reizen,  
to inflame the heart I held out to you,
> Participle hingehaltne: hingehaltne is a shortened form of hingehalten, the past participle of hinhalten, 'to hold out, to extend'. It modifies Herz, 'heart', both accusative neuter: das hingehaltne Herz, 'the heart held out'. The final e is dropped for the meter.

**4** daß es jetzt wie eines Löwen kocht.  
so that now it boils like a lion's.
> Genitive eines Löwen: eines Löwen is the genitive singular of ein Löwe, 'a lion', meaning 'a lion's'. wie eines Löwen kocht compares the heart's boiling to a lion's, with the noun after it, Herz, left unstated.


**5** Welchen Mund hast du mir zugemutet,  
What a mouth you laid upon me,
> Verb zumuten, to impose: zumuten means 'to expect of someone, to impose on someone', often something hard or unwelcome. zugemutet is its past participle. Welchen Mund hast du mir zugemutet means 'what a mouth you imposed on me'.

**6** damals, da ich fast ein Knabe war:  
back then, when I was almost a boy:
> Subordinating conjunction da: da here means 'when', introducing a subordinate time clause, not the more common 'there' or 'since'. da ich fast ein Knabe war means 'when I was nearly a boy'. fast means 'nearly'.

**7** eine Wunde wurde er: nun blutet  
a wound it became: now there bleeds
> Preterite wurde, became: wurde is the preterite of werden, 'to become'. eine Wunde wurde er means 'he became a wound', with the predicate noun eine Wunde placed first for emphasis. er refers back to Mund, 'mouth', from the line before.

**8** aus ihm Unglücksjahr um Unglücksjahr.  
from it year of disaster upon year of disaster.
> Repetition with um: Unglücksjahr um Unglücksjahr, 'year of disaster upon year of disaster', repeats the noun with um, 'upon', to show years piling one after another. The first Unglücksjahr is nominative, the second accusative, both governed by the sentence around them.


**9** Täglich tönte ich von neuen Nöten,  
Daily I rang out with new afflictions,
> Preterite tönte, rang out: tönte is the preterite of tönen, 'to sound, to ring out'. It takes von here to mean 'with': tönte ich von neuen Nöten means 'I rang out with new afflictions'. Nöten is the dative plural of Not, 'affliction, distress'.

**10** die du, Unersättlicher, ersannst,  
which you, insatiable one, devised,
> Preterite ersannst, devised: ersannst is the second person singular preterite of ersinnen, 'to devise, to contrive'. die du ... ersannst means 'which you devised', with die as the accusative relative pronoun referring to the afflictions named in the line before.

**11** und sie konnten mir den Mund nicht töten;  
and they could not kill the mouth in me;
> Dative of interest, mir: mir here is a dative of interest, marking whose mouth is meant: sie konnten mir den Mund nicht töten, literally 'they could not kill the mouth to me', meaning 'my mouth'. Mund is the direct accusative object of töten.

**12** sieh du zu, wie du ihn stillen kannst,  
you see for yourself how you can still it,
> Separable verb zusehen: zusehen, 'to see to something, to watch', is separable. sieh is the imperative of sehen, and zu, its detached prefix, sits at the end: sieh du zu, wie ... means 'see for yourself how ...'. wie introduces the clause it depends on.


**13** wenn, die wir zerstoßen und zerstören,  
when those we batter and destroy,
> Relative die, first person: die is an accusative relative pronoun referring to an unstated group, object of zerstoßen and zerstören, 'to batter' and 'to destroy'. wir, 'we', is the subject: die wir zerstoßen means 'those whom we batter'.

**14** erst verloren sind und fernverlaufen  
are first lost and strayed far off
> Participle fernverlaufen: fernverlaufen is the past participle of a compound verb built from fern, 'far', and verlaufen, 'to stray, to go astray'. sind ... fernverlaufen, 'have strayed far off', pairs with verloren sind, 'are lost', both describing the same subject.

**15** und vergangen sind in der Gefahr:  
and have passed away in the peril:
> Participle vergangen: vergangen is the past participle of vergehen, 'to pass away, to perish'. sind vergangen means 'have passed away', a perfect tense formed with sein because vergehen describes a change of state, not an action done to something.

**16** denn dann will ich in den Trümmerhaufen  
for then, among the heaps of rubble,
> Compound noun Trümmerhaufen: Trümmerhaufen combines Trümmer, 'rubble, debris', and Haufen, 'heap, pile', meaning 'heaps of rubble'. It is dative plural here after in: in den Trümmerhaufen, 'among the heaps of rubble'.

**17** endlich meine Stimme Wiederhören,  
hear my own voice again at last,
> Infinitive wiederhören: Wiederhören, 'to hear again', is an infinitive used here as a noun-like object of will, 'want': meine Stimme Wiederhören means 'to hear my own voice again'. wieder, 'again', is fused into the verb rather than kept separate.

**18** die von Anfang an ein Heulen war.  
which from the very first was a howling.
> Nominalized infinitive Heulen: Heulen is the infinitive of heulen, 'to howl', used as a neuter noun meaning 'a howling'. ein Heulen war means 'was a howling'. Any German infinitive can be capitalized and used this way as a noun.

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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.