# Mädchenklage · A Girl's Lament

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Diese Neigung, in den Jahren,  
This inclination, in the years
> A leaning turned into a trait: die Neigung comes from neigen, 'to incline, to bend', and literally means a leaning or slope. Used figuratively, as here, it means a tendency or inclination, the speaker's early pull toward being alone.

**2** da wir alle Kinder waren,  
when we were all children,
> A conjunction meaning when: da here is a subordinating conjunction meaning 'when' or 'as', used to set a past time, not its more common senses 'there' or 'because'. Since it opens a subordinate clause, its verb, waren, is sent to the end.

**3** viel allein zu sein, war mild;  
to be much alone, was mild;
> An infinitive phrase as subject: zu sein, 'to be', combines with viel allein, 'much alone', to form an infinitive phrase. That whole phrase acts as the subject of war mild, 'was mild'. German can use a full zu-infinitive clause the way English uses a gerund.

**4** andern ging die Zeit im Streite,  
for others the time went by in quarrel,
> Dative marking who is affected: andern is a dative plural meaning 'to others' or 'for others'. In andern ging die Zeit, the dative names the people time passed for. Streite is an older dative form of Streit, 'quarrel', its final -e kept for rhyme.

**5** und man hatte seine Seite,  
and one had one's own side,
> The impersonal pronoun one: man means 'one', 'you', or 'people in general', and takes a third-person singular verb, here hatte. Its possessive form is sein-, so seine Seite means 'one's own side'. The poem later shifts from this general man to the personal ich.

**6** seine Nähe, seine Weite,  
one's nearness, one's distance,
> A paired pair of opposites: die Nähe means 'nearness, closeness' and die Weite means 'expanse, distance'. Both are abstract nouns built from the adjectives nah and weit. The poem lists them as things the self once possessed, alongside a path, an animal, an image.

**7** einen Weg, ein Tier, ein Bild.  
a path, an animal, an image.
> Accusative case shown by one noun: Weg, Tier, and Bild are all accusative objects of hatte in the line before. Masculine einen Weg shows the accusative ending -en, while neuter ein Tier and ein Bild look the same as their nominative forms. Only the masculine form reveals the case here.


**8** Und ich dachte noch, das Leben  
And I still thought that life

**9** hörte niemals auf zu geben,  
would never cease to grant
> Separable prefix splits off: aufhören, 'to stop, to cease', is a separable verb. In a main clause its prefix auf splits from the stem and moves to the end, giving hörte … auf niemals. The pattern aufhören zu geben means 'to stop giving' or 'never cease to give'.

**10** daß man sich in sich besinnt.  
that one finds oneself within oneself.
> A reflexive verb doubled: sich besinnen means 'to reflect, to collect oneself, to come to one's senses'. The line doubles it as sich in sich besinnt, 'reflects itself within itself', turning the reflexive verb fully onto the self. daß is the older spelling of dass, 'that'.

**11** Bin ich in mir nicht im Größten?  
Am I not, within myself, at my greatest?
> Superlative used as a noun: im Größten uses the superlative of groß, 'great', as a noun after the dative preposition in, giving 'in the greatest'. Bin ich …? is an inverted question, formed by placing the verb before the subject.

**12** Will mich meines nicht mehr trösten  
Will what is mine no longer console me
> A possessive standing alone as noun: meines is the possessive mein used by itself as a neuter nominative noun, meaning 'what is mine' or 'my own'. It is the subject of will trösten, 'wants to console', while mich, 'me', is the accusative object. Will fronted at the start again marks an inverted question.

**13** und verstehen wie als Kind?  
and understand me as it did when I was a child?
> A comparison with the verb left out: wie als Kind compresses 'as it did when I was a child'. wie introduces the comparison, and als Kind is a fixed phrase meaning 'as a child'. The verb verstehen, from the line before, carries over and is not repeated.


**14** Plötzlich bin ich wie verstoßen,  
Suddenly I am as if cast out,
> Cast out, but only in comparison: verstoßen is the past participle of verstoßen, 'to expel, to disown', used of someone driven from home or family. Preceded by wie, wie verstoßen presents this only as a comparison, not a literal claim.

**15** und zu einem Übergroßen  
and into something overgreat
> The prefix über- intensifies: über-, 'over, beyond', intensifies groß, 'great', into übergroß, 'oversized, immense'. Used as a noun, ein Übergroßes means 'something immense'. The phrase zu einem Übergroßen depends on wird in the next line, giving 'becomes something immense'.

**16** wird mir diese Einsamkeit,  
this loneliness becomes for me,
> werden zu plus a dative person: werden zu etwas means 'to become, to turn into something'. Across two lines the clause reads diese Einsamkeit wird mir zu einem Übergroßen, 'this loneliness becomes, for me, something immense'. The dative mir marks the person the change affects.

**17** wenn, auf meiner Brüste Hügeln  
when, standing upon the hills of my breasts,
> A genitive placed ahead of its noun: The ordinary order would be auf den Hügeln meiner Brüste, 'on the hills of my breasts'. Rilke instead fronts the genitive meiner Brüste before its noun Hügeln. auf takes the dative Hügeln here because it names a location, not a motion toward it.

**18** stehend, mein Gefühl nach Flügeln  
my feeling cries out for wings
> A present participle used adverbially: stehend, 'standing', is the present participle of stehen, formed by adding -d to the infinitive. Used adverbially, it describes the posture behind mein Gefühl, the feeling named in the same line.
> The idiom cry out for: schreien nach etwas means 'to cry out for something', and nach takes the dative. That gives nach Flügeln, 'for wings', and nach einem Ende in the next line. The main verb, schreit, does not arrive until the end of that next line.

**19** oder einem Ende schreit.  
or for an ending.
> An indefinite ending left open: das Ende means 'the end'. The indefinite form einem Ende, 'an ending', governed by nach from the line before, does not say what kind of ending is meant. The feeling cries für Flügeln oder einem Ende, 'for wings or for an ending'.

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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.