# Kreuzigung · Crucifixion

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

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

**1** Längst geübt, zum kahlen Galgenplatze  
Long since practiced at herding to the bare gallows-ground
> Längst with a past participle: Längst means 'long since, for a long time now'. Geübt is the past participle of üben, 'to practice, drill', used adjectivally: 'long practiced'. The phrase has no subject of its own yet; it describes the soldiers named in a later line.
> A compound for the gallows place: A compound of Galgen, 'gallows', and Platz, 'place': Galgenplatz is the place of execution. Zum ... Galgenplatze is dative after zu, with an old -e dative ending on Platze, marking the destination. Kahl means 'bare, barren.'

**2** irgendein Gesindel hinzudrängen,  
some rabble or other, toward it
> A collective noun for rabble: Das Gesindel is a contemptuous collective noun, 'rabble, riffraff'. The Ge- prefix gathers many individuals into one mass. Irgendein, 'some or other', makes the crowd faceless and indefinite.
> Zu inside a separable verb: The verb is hindrängen, a separable verb meaning 'to push or herd (a crowd) toward a spot'. As a zu-infinitive the zu sits between prefix and stem: hin-zu-drängen. It completes geübt from the line before: 'practiced at herding.'

**3** ließen sich die schweren Knechte hängen,  
the heavy hired men let themselves slouch,
> Lassen with a reflexive infinitive: Lassen plus reflexive sich plus infinitive means 'to let oneself...'. Sich hängen lassen idiomatically means 'to slouch, slump, go slack'. Die schweren Knechte, 'the heavy hired men', is the subject that lets itself go loose.
> A word for hired men: Der Knecht, plural Knechte, means 'servant, farmhand, hired hand', a man doing heavy work under orders. Here the Knechte are the soldiers carrying out the executions. Schweren, 'heavy', from schwer, describes them as coarse and lumpish.

**4** dann und wann nur eine große Fratze  
only now and then turning a great grimace
> An idiom for now and then: Dann und wann is a fixed phrase meaning 'now and then, occasionally'. It governs the participle kehrend, 'turning', which opens the next line, so the clause deliberately spills across the stanza break.
> A word for a grimace: Die Fratze means 'a grimace, a distorted or ugly face'. Eine große Fratze, 'a great grimace', is the accusative object of kehrend, 'turning', in the line that follows.


**5** kehrend nach den abgetanen Drein.  
toward the three already done away with.
> Present participle 'kehrend': Kehrend is the present participle of kehren, 'to turn'. It reaches back to eine große Fratze in the line before: 'turning a great grimace toward...'. Nach governs the dative den abgetanen Drein that follows.
> A participle and a dative plural: Abtun means 'to do away with, dispose of'; its past participle abgetan, used as an adjective, means 'dealt-with, finished-off'. Drein is the dative plural of die Drei, 'the three': 'toward the three already disposed of.'

**6** Aber oben war das schlechte Henkern  
But up above, the shoddy hangman's work
> An adverb of place: Oben means 'up, above, up there', the opposite of unten, 'below'. It shifts attention from the crowd on the ground to the crosses raised over them.
> A verb made into a noun: Henkern, 'to do a hangman's work', is built from der Henker, 'hangman'. Capitalized with an article, das Henkern becomes a noun, 'the hangman-ing'. Das schlechte Henkern means 'the shoddy work of executing.'

**7** rasch getan; und nach dem Fertigsein  
was quickly done; and once the finishing was over
> Completing the clause: Rasch means 'quick, swift'; getan is the past participle of tun, 'to do'. Reaching back to war in the line above, war ... rasch getan means 'was quickly done', the participle closing the clause at its end, as German word order requires.
> A verb phrase turned into a noun: Fertig sein, 'to be finished, done', is turned into the noun das Fertigsein, 'the being-finished'. Nach dem Fertigsein means 'after the being-done', once the job was over.

**8** ließen sich die freien Männer schlenkern.  
the men, now free, let their limbs swing loose.
> Free meaning off duty: Frei means 'free', but here it means simply off-duty, done with the work. Die freien Männer, 'the free men', are the soldiers now at leisure, set against the three still fixed to their crosses.
> Letting the limbs dangle: Schlenkern means 'to dangle, swing loosely, let limbs flop'. With sich ... lassen, 'to let oneself...', ließen sich ... schlenkern means 'let themselves dangle, swing their limbs loose', echoing ließen sich ... hängen earlier in the poem.


**9** Bis der eine (fleckig wie ein Selcher)  
Until one of them (spattered like a butcher)
> A subordinator meaning until: Bis, 'until', opens a subordinate clause running into the next line: Bis der eine ... sagte, 'Until one of them said'. As a subordinator it sends the verb, sagte, to the end of its clause.

**10** sagte: Hauptmann, dieser hat geschrien.  
said: Captain, this one cried out.
> A word for captain: Der Hauptmann means 'captain', literally 'head-man', from Haupt and Mann, the officer commanding the detail. Dieser, 'this one', refers to one of the three men, subject of hat geschrien, 'has cried out.'
> Perfect of 'schreien': Schreien, 'to scream, cry out', is a strong verb whose past participle is geschrien. Hat geschrien is the present perfect: 'has cried out.' The everyday reporting tense treats the cry as a routine fact.

**11** Und der Hauptmann sah vom Pferde: Welcher?  
And the captain looked down from his horse: Which one?
> Old dative ending: Vom is the contraction of von dem, and von takes the dative: vom Pferde means 'from the horse', with the archaic -e dative ending on Pferd. The captain stays mounted, looking down rather than dismounting.

**12** und es war ihm selbst, er hätte ihn  
and it seemed to him that he himself had
> An idiom of impression: Es war ihm (selbst), ... is an idiom of impression meaning 'it seemed to him', literally 'it was to him'. Ihm is the dative of er, 'he'; selbst adds 'himself', stressing that even he half-felt it.
> Subjunctive of report: Hätte is the subjunctive II of haben, 'to have'. After es war ihm, it reports an uncertain impression: er hätte ihn ... hören, 'that he had heard him', marking a perception the speaker is not sure of, not a stated fact.


**13** den Elia rufen hören. Alle  
heard him call for Elijah. All of them
> Double infinitive after 'hören': Verbs of perception like hören, 'to hear', take a bare infinitive, not a zu-infinitive: ihn rufen hören, 'to hear him call'. In a perfect tense this produces two stacked infinitives instead of a participle: er hätte ihn rufen hören, 'he had heard him call.'

**14** waren zuzuschauen voller Lust,  
were full of eagerness to watch,
> Zu inside a separable infinitive: Zuschauen, 'to watch, look on', is a separable verb. As a zu-infinitive the zu nests between prefix and stem: zu-zu-schauen. It depends on voller Lust, 'full of eagerness': 'full of eagerness to watch.'
> Full of eagerness: Voll(er) means 'full of'; die Lust here means 'desire, eager appetite', not the narrower English 'lust'. Voller Lust zuzuschauen means 'full of eagerness to watch.'

**15** und sie hielten, daß er nicht verfalle,  
and so that he should not give out, they held
> Subjunctive of purpose: Verfalle is the present subjunctive of verfallen, 'to collapse, give out'. In the purpose clause daß er nicht verfalle, 'so that he should not give out', the subjunctive marks an intended outcome rather than a stated fact.

**16** gierig ihm die ganze Essiggalle  
greedily, to him, the whole gall of vinegar
> An adjective for greed: Gierig means 'greedy, avid', from die Gier, 'greed'. Ihm, dative, refers to the dying man, object of hielten, 'held', in the line above: the crowd holds the sponge to him, greedy for the spectacle to continue.

**17** an sein schwindendes Gehust.  
against his fading fit of coughing.
> Present participle as adjective: Schwinden means 'to dwindle, fade away'; schwindend is its present participle, 'fading'. Sein schwindendes Gehust, accusative after an, means 'his fading fit of coughing.'
> A collective noun with the Ge prefix: Das Gehust is a collective noun built from husten, 'to cough', with the Ge- frame that gathers a repeated action into one continuous mass: 'a fit of coughing'. The same pattern gives Gerede, 'chatter', and Gelächter, 'laughter.'


**18** Denn sie hofften noch ein ganzes Spiel  
For they still hoped for a whole show
> A conjunction that keeps word order: Denn means 'for, because', a coordinating conjunction that gives a reason. Unlike subordinating weil, denn keeps normal main-clause word order: Denn sie hofften, 'For they hoped.'
> A noun for a whole show: Das Spiel means 'a play, game, performance, show'. Ein ganzes Spiel, accusative after hofften, 'hoped for', means 'a whole show', the object the crowd was still waiting on.

**19** und vielleicht den kommenden Elia.  
and perhaps the coming of Elijah.
> Present participle as adjective: Kommend is the present participle of kommen, 'to come', used adjectivally: 'coming, approaching'. Den kommenden Elia, accusative, is a second object of hofften: 'the coming Elijah.'

**20** Aber hinten ferne schrie Maria,  
But far behind, Mary was screaming,
> Two adverbs of distance: Hinten means 'at the back, behind'; ferne, more usually fern, means 'far, far off'. Together, hinten ferne means 'far back, in the distance', locating where the cry sounds from.

**21** und er selber brüllte und verfiel.  
and he himself bellowed, and gave out.
> A blunt verb for roaring: Brüllen means 'to roar, bellow, howl', a raw and blunter word than rufen, 'to call', used earlier of the same man. Er selber brüllte means 'he himself bellowed.'
> Simple past of collapsing: Verfiel is the simple past of verfallen, 'to collapse, give out, sink'. It is the same verb the crowd earlier tried to forestall with daß er nicht verfalle; here it happens: er ... verfiel, 'he gave out.'

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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.