# Lied vom Meer · Song of the Sea

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

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

**1** Uraltes Wehn vom Meer,  
Age-old blowing from the sea,
> Ur- intensifies old: uralt welds the intensifying prefix ur-, 'original, primal', onto alt, 'old': not merely old but 'age-old, immemorial'. das Wehn is a noun made from wehen, 'to blow', so uraltes Wehn vom Meer means 'age-old blowing off the sea'.

**2** Meerwind bei Nacht:  
sea-wind by night:
> Compound noun, fused nouns: Meer, 'sea', plus Wind, 'wind', gives Meerwind, 'sea-wind'. German fuses nouns into one word, the last element carrying the gender, here masculine der Wind. bei Nacht is the fixed phrase 'by night, at night'.

**3** du kommst zu keinem her;  
you come to no one;
> Separable verb split by dative phrase: herkommen, 'to come here, toward the speaker', is separable: the prefix her- is flung to the line's end, du kommst her. zu keinem pairs zu, 'to', with keiner, 'no one'.

**4** wenn einer wacht,  
if someone lies awake,
> Wenn sends its verb to the end: wenn, 'if, when', is a subordinating conjunction, so its verb wacht goes to the clause's end. einer is the indefinite pronoun 'someone'. wachen means 'to be awake, to lie awake', not wecken, 'to wake someone'.

**5** so muß er sehn, wie er  
then he must see how he
> So inverts subject and verb: so opens the main clause answering the wenn-clause, 'if someone lies awake, then'. Because so fills the first slot, subject and verb invert, so muß er sehn, 'then he must see'. sehn is the clipped sehen.

**6** dich übersteht:  
outlasts you:
> Inseparable verb, fused prefix: überstehen, 'to withstand, survive, get through', keeps its prefix über- fused even at the clause's end, wie er dich übersteht, 'how he gets through you'. The accusative dich, 'you', is the wind itself.

**7** uraltes Wehn vom Meer,  
age-old blowing from the sea,
> The opening line returns: Line one returns here word for word, a refrain folding the poem back on itself. das Wehn, neuter, takes the neuter ending -es, uraltes Wehn; vom fuses von dem, 'from the'. The relative clause welches weht grows out of it next.

**8** welches weht  
which blows
> Relative pronoun, verb-final: welches is a relative pronoun, the more literary alternative to das, agreeing with neuter das Wehn, meaning 'which'. As a relative clause its verb weht, from wehen, 'to blow', falls at the end.

**9** nur wie für Urgestein,  
only as if for primal rock,
> Wie meaning as if: wie here carries the sense 'as though', and für, 'for', always takes the accusative, für Urgestein, 'for primal rock'. Urgestein joins ur- to Gestein, 'rock, stone', naming the oldest bedrock of the earth.

**10** lauter Raum  
sheer space
> Lauter means nothing but: lauter here is not the comparative of laut, 'loud'. It is the invariable word lauter, meaning 'nothing but, pure, sheer'. lauter Raum means 'sheer space, nothing but space', in apposition to Wehn from an earlier line.

**11** reißend von weit herein.  
tearing in from far away.
> Participle plus directional adverb: reißend is the present participle of reißen, 'to tear, rush', used adverbially, 'tearing'. herein joins her-, toward the speaker, with -ein, 'inward', meaning 'in, inward'. von weit means 'from far off'.


**12** O wie fühlt dich ein  
Oh, how a drifting fig tree
> Wie opens the clause, verb first: Because wie, 'how', opens this clause, the verb precedes its subject, fühlt ein treibender Feigenbaum. The accusative dich, 'you', is again the wind, the object felt. The subject runs on into the next line.

**13** treibender Feigenbaum  
feels you,
> One verb with two meanings: Feigenbaum joins Feige, 'fig', and Baum, 'tree': 'fig tree'. treibend is the present participle of treiben, a verb meaning both 'to drive, to drift' and, of a plant, 'to sprout, put forth shoots'. Both senses sound together here.

**14** oben im Mondschein.  
high up in the moonlight.
> Adverb plus a compound noun: oben is the adverb 'up there, above'. Mondschein joins Mond, 'moon', and Schein, 'shine', giving 'moonlight'; im fuses in dem, 'in the', with the dative for rest. oben im Mondschein means 'high up in the moonlight'.

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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.