# Morgue · The Morgue

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Da liegen sie bereit, als ob es gälte,  
There they lie ready, as though the task remained
> Past subjunctive of gelten: gälte is the Konjunktiv II, or past subjunctive, form of gelten, 'to be at stake, to be a matter of'. The impersonal phrase es gälte, etwas zu tun means 'as though it were a matter of doing something'. The conjunction als ob, meaning 'as though', requires this subjunctive form.

**2** nachträglich eine Handlung zu erfinden,  
to invent, after the fact, some single act
> After the fact, belatedly: nachträglich means 'after the fact, belatedly, in retrospect', formed from nachtragen, 'to carry after, to add later'. It depends on the infinitive erfinden, 'to invent', describing when the inventing would happen. eine Handlung, 'an act', is the object of erfinden.

**3** die miteinander und mit dieser Kälte  
that might know how to bind them, each to each

**4** sie zu versöhnen weiß und zu verbinden;  
and to this cold, and reconcile them all;
> wissen zu plus infinitive: wissen zu plus an infinitive means 'to know how to do something'. Here weiß, from wissen, sits inside a relative clause while two zu infinitives, versöhnen and verbinden, frame it: 'that knows how to reconcile and to bind them'. Sie, 'them', is the shared object of both infinitives.


**5** denn das ist alles noch wie ohne Schluß.  
for all of this is still as if unclosed.
> Old spelling of an ending noun: Schluß, spelled Schluss in modern German, means 'end, close, conclusion'. wie ohne Schluß means 'as though without an ending'. The word is printed with the older ß after a short vowel, matching Rilke's original spelling rather than the post-1996 rule.

**6** Was für ein Name hätte in den Taschen  
What sort of name should have been found inside
> Asking what kind of: was für ein means 'what kind of, what sort of'. The preposition für does not set the case here; instead the case of the following noun depends on its role in the sentence. Name is the subject of the clause, so it stays in the nominative case.

**7** sich finden sollen? An dem Überdruß  
their pockets? At the weariness that ringed
> A noun for weariness: Überdruß, spelled Überdruss in modern German, means 'surfeit, weariness', the disgust of having had too much. It stands in the dative after the preposition an, 'at'. The related adjective überdrüssig sein means 'to be sick of' something.

**8** um ihren Mund hat man herumgewaschen;  
their mouths, the washing went round and around;
> Man as an impersonal subject: man is an impersonal subject meaning 'one, they, people', used when the doer is left unnamed. herumwaschen fuses the separable prefix herum-, 'round about', with waschen, 'to wash'; its perfect tense is hat herumgewaschen. Um ihren Mund, 'around their mouth', names the area that was washed.


**9** er ging nicht ab; er wurde nur ganz rein.  
it would not come off; it only grew quite clean.
> A separable verb splits apart: abgehen is a separable verb that here means '(of a mark) to come off, wash out'. In the simple past the prefix ab splits from ging and moves to the end of the clause, so er ging nicht ab means 'it would not come off'. er refers back to a noun named earlier in the poem.

**10** Die Bärte stehen, noch ein wenig härter,  
The beards stand stiff, a little harsher now,
> Stehen used of hair: Bart, plural Bärte, means 'beard'. stehen usually means 'to stand', but here it describes hair standing up stiff. noch ein wenig härter means 'a little harder still', using härter, the comparative form of hart, 'hard'.

**11** doch ordentlicher im Geschmack der Wärter,  
yet tidier, to suit the keepers' taste,
> Taste and the word for keepers: Geschmack means 'taste', both the physical sense and an aesthetic preference; im Geschmack der Wärter means 'to the taste of the keepers'. Wärter, from warten, 'to tend, to watch over', names the people who look after the morgue. der Wärter is genitive plural, depending on Geschmack.


**12** nur um die Gaffenden nicht anzuwidern.  
only so as not to revolt the gaping crowd.
> Purpose clause with a separable verb: um … zu plus an infinitive expresses purpose, 'in order to'. Because anwidern, 'to revolt, disgust someone', is separable, zu is inserted between its prefix an- and the stem, giving anzuwidern. Die Gaffenden is a nominalized participle from gaffen, 'to gawk', meaning 'the gaping ones'.

**13** Die Augen haben hinter ihren Lidern  
The eyes, behind their lids, have turned themselves

**14** sich umgewandt und schauen jetzt hinein.  
around, and now they gaze the other way — within.
> A reflexive verb and a direction word: sich umwenden, 'to turn oneself around', is a reflexive separable verb whose perfect participle is umgewandt. The reflexive pronoun sich and the participle umgewandt belong together even though a line break falls between them. hinein means 'inward, into there', so schauen jetzt hinein means 'now gaze inward'.

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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.