# Opfer · Offering

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** O wie blüht mein Leib aus jeder Ader  
O how my body blooms from every vein
> Living flesh, not the anatomical body: Der Leib is the body as living flesh, distinct from the neutral, anatomical der Körper. The speaker chooses this warmer word for a body that blooms. Aus jeder Ader, 'from every vein', is dative governed by aus.

**2** duftender, seitdem ich dich erkenn;  
more fragrant, since I have come to know you;
> A verb of knowing: Erkennen means 'to recognize, to perceive, to come to know'. Erkenn drops the final -e of erkenne, a poetic contraction of the first-person singular. Seitdem ich dich erkenn means 'since I have come to know you'.

**3** sieh, ich gehe schlanker und gerader,  
look, I walk slimmer now and straighter,
> Comparatives without a than clause: Schlanker and gerader are comparatives of schlank, 'slim', and gerade, 'straight', formed with the ending -er. Standing without an als clause, they mean 'more so than before'. Sieh is the imperative of sehen, 'to look'.

**4** und du wartest nur–: wer bist du denn?  
and you only wait — : who are you, then?
> A particle of wonder: In this question denn is not the conjunction 'for, because' but a flavoring particle that adds surprise or wonder to a question, close to 'then' in 'who are you, then'. wartest is the second-person present of warten, 'to wait'.


**5** Sieh: ich fühle, wie ich mich entferne,  
Look: I feel how I am drawing away,
> A reflexive verb for drawing away: Sich entfernen is a reflexive verb meaning 'to move off, to withdraw, to grow distant'. Mich is the reflexive object of ich. The verb stands at the end of the wie clause, as German subordinate clauses require.

**6** wie ich Altes, Blatt um Blatt, verlier.  
how I shed the old, leaf upon leaf.
> A repeated noun pattern: X um X means 'X after X, one X at a time'; here Blatt um Blatt means 'leaf after leaf'. Das Blatt can mean both leaf and page. Altes is the adjective alt used as a neuter noun, 'the old'. Verlier is a poetic clipping of verliere, 'I lose'.

**7** Nur dein Lächeln steht wie lauter Sterne  
Only your smile stands like sheer stars
> An indeclinable word for sheer: Lauter is indeclinable and means 'sheer, nothing but, all'. Lauter Sterne means 'nothing but stars'. It should not be confused with laut, 'loud', or the comparative lauter, 'louder'.

**8** über dir und bald auch über mir.  
above you, and soon above me too.


**9** Alles was durch meine Kinderjahre  
All that through my childhood years
> Durch governs the accusative: Durch, 'through', always takes the accusative case, here meine Kinderjahre, 'my childhood years'. The clause alles, was, 'all that', opens a long sentence whose main verb does not arrive until several lines later.

**10** namenlos noch und wie Wasser glänzt,  
still nameless and gleams like water,
> The suffix los marks absence: Namenlos combines Name, 'name', with the suffix -los, 'lacking', giving 'nameless, unnamed'. This suffix forms other adjectives of lack, such as hilflos, 'helpless'. Wie Wasser glänzt means 'gleams like water'.

**11** will ich nach dir nennen am Altäre,  
I will name after you at the altar,
> Naming someone after someone: Jemanden nach jemandem nennen means 'to name someone after someone'; nach with the dative dir marks the namesake. Will ich nennen is the long-delayed main clause of a sentence begun earlier. Am Altäre is an older dative form of der Altar, 'the altar'.

**12** der entzündet ist von deinem Haare  
the altar kindled by your hair
> To kindle or set alight: Entzünden means 'to kindle, to set alight, to inflame'. Der entzündet ist is a relative clause whose der points back to Altäre, 'altar'. Von deinem Haare, 'by your hair', is an archaic dative of das Haar naming the agent.

**13** und mit deinen Brüsten leicht bekränzt.  
and lightly wreathed with your breasts.
> To wreathe with something: Bekränzen means 'to wreathe, to garland', from der Kranz, 'wreath'. Mit, with the dative deinen Brüsten, names what the wreath is made of. Bekränzt is the past participle, coordinated here with entzündet.

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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.