# Landschaft · Landscape

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

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

**1** Wie zuletzt, in einem Augenblick  
As if at last, in a single instant
> Compound built from eye and glance: Augenblick literally means 'a glance of the eye', from Auge, 'eye', and Blick, 'look'; the German word for 'moment, instant' keeps this visual root. in einem Augenblick means 'in a single moment'.

**2** aufgehäuft aus Hängen, Häusern, Stücken  
heaped up out of slopes, houses, fragments
> Past participle of a separable verb: aufhäufen means 'to heap up, pile up', a separable verb, auf- plus häufen. Its past participle inserts -ge- between prefix and stem, aufgehäuft, 'heaped up'. aus takes the dative to name what it is piled from.

**3** alter Himmel und zerbrochnen Brücken,  
of old skies and broken bridges,
> Genitive plural after Stücken: alter Himmel and zerbrochnen Brücken are genitive plurals depending on Stücken in the line above, 'fragments of old skies and broken bridges'. alter carries the strong genitive plural ending -er. zerbrochnen is the poetic contraction of zerbrochenen, 'broken'.

**4** und von drüben her, wie vom Geschick,  
and from over yonder, as if by fate,
> Doubled directional phrase: drüben means 'over there, on the far side', and von her marks motion toward the speaker. Together they give 'from over there, hither'. vom Geschick, 'by fate', treats the sunset's arrival as something destined.

**5** von dem Sonnenuntergang getroffen,  
struck by the setting of the sun,
> Passive with von plus dative: getroffen is the past participle of treffen, 'to strike, hit'. In a passive construction the agent is marked by von plus the dative, von dem Sonnenuntergang getroffen, 'struck by the sunset'. This opens a run of three participles describing the town.

**6** angeschuldigt, aufgerissen, offen–  
accused, ripped open, laid bare —
> Past participle of aufreißen: aufgerissen is the past participle of aufreißen, 'to tear open, wrench open'; the auf- prefix carries the sense of pulling wide apart. It is paired with angeschuldigt, 'accused', and the bare adjective offen, 'open'.

**7** ginge dort die Ortschaft tragisch aus:  
the township there would end tragically:
> Subjunctive of a separable verb: ausgehen means 'to go out, come to an end' and is separable; here its prefix aus lands at the end of the line. ginge is Konjunktiv II of gehen, giving the hypothetical 'would end', the main clause of an unreal condition.


**8** fiele nicht auf einmal in das Wunde,  
if there did not fall all at once into the wound,
> Unreal condition, inverted order: fiele is Konjunktiv II of fallen, 'to fall'. Placed first in the clause, fiele nicht works as a condition, 'were it not that falls'. It completes the unreal sentence begun by ginge aus above. auf einmal means 'all at once'.

**9** drin zerfließend, aus der nächsten Stunde  
dissolving within it, out of the coming hour
> Present participle of zerfließen: zerfließend is the present participle of zerfließen, 'to dissolve, flow apart, melt away'; the prefix zer- marks scattering or undoing. drin, short for darin, 'in it', refers back to das Wunde, the wound.

**10** jener Tropfen kühlen Blaus,  
that drop of cool blue,
> Genitive of a noun from a color: Blaus is the genitive of the neuter noun das Blau, 'the blue', a color turned into a noun; kühlen is the adjective in the same genitive. kühlen Blaus depends on Tropfen, giving 'that drop of cool blue'.

**11** der die Nacht schon in den Abend mischt,  
which already mixes night into the evening,
> Relative clause sends verb last: der is a relative pronoun, masculine, agreeing with Tropfen, introducing a subordinate clause whose verb mischt moves to the very end. in den Abend uses the accusative to show motion 'into': the drop mixes night into the evening.

**12** so daß das von ferne Angefachte  
so that what was kindled from afar
> Participle turned into a noun: anfachen means 'to fan into flame, kindle'. Its past participle angefacht is turned into a neuter noun, das Angefachte, 'that which has been kindled', the sunset glow seen from afar, von ferne. so daß opens a result clause.

**13** sachte, wie erlöst, erlischt.  
softly, as if released, goes out.
> Two near-rhyming verbs: erlöst is the participle of erlösen, 'to redeem, release'. erlischt is from erlöschen, 'to go out, be extinguished', of a light or fire. sachte means 'softly'; wie erlöst, erlischt reads 'softly, as though released, goes out'.


**14** Ruhig sind die Tore und die Bogen,  
Quiet are the gates and the arches,
> Predicate adjective opens the sentence: German can open a sentence with a predicate adjective for emphasis, pushing the verb to second position and the subject after it, Ruhig sind die Tore, 'Quiet are the gates'. die Tore and die Bogen are the calmed subjects.

**15** durchsichtige Wolken wogen  
translucent clouds are surging
> A verb for surging waves: wogen means 'to surge, billow, heave', like waves, from die Woge, 'a wave'. durchsichtig means 'transparent, see-through', from durch, 'through', and sichtig, related to sehen, 'to see'.

**16** über blassen Häuserreihn,  
over pale rows of houses,
> Dative after über, clipped plural: über here takes the dative, blassen Häuserreihn, to mark a static location, 'over pale rows of houses'. Häuserreihn is the poetic clipped plural of Häuserreihen, trimmed to fit the meter and rhyme.

**17** die schon Dunkel in sich eingesogen;  
that have already drunk the dark into themselves;
> Participle with the auxiliary dropped: eingesogen is the past participle of einsaugen, 'to soak in', separable, ein-ge-sogen. The relative clause drops the auxiliary haben; in full it would read die schon Dunkel in sich eingesogen haben.

**18** aber plötzlich ist vom Mond ein Schein  
but suddenly a gleam from the moon has
> A noun for a gleam of light: der Schein means 'a gleam, glow, shine', from scheinen, 'to shine'. vom Mond is the fused von dem Mond, 'from the moon'. ist here is the auxiliary beginning a perfect tense that completes only in the next line.

**19** durchgeglitten, licht, als hätte ein  
slipped through, bright, as though an
> Participle completes the perfect tense: durchgeglitten is the participle of durchgleiten, 'to glide through', completing ist durchgeglitten, 'has slipped through'. als hätte opens an unreal comparison, 'as though', with the subjunctive hätte, finished in the next line.

**20** Erzengel irgendwo sein Schwert gezogen.  
archangel had drawn his sword somewhere.
> Erz- marks the highest rank: Erzengel means 'archangel'. The prefix erz-, from Greek archi-, 'chief', marks the highest rank of angel. Schwert means 'sword'; gezogen, the participle of ziehen, 'to draw', completes hätte gezogen, 'had drawn'.

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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.