# Quai du Rosaire · Quai du Rosaire

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/quai-du-rosaire. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/quai-du-rosaire.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/<line id>.m4a.

**1** Die Gassen haben einen sachten Gang  
The lanes have a gentle gait
> sacht and der Gang: sacht means 'soft, gentle, unhurried', describing motion. der Gang here is not a corridor but a way of walking, a gait or pace. einen sachten Gang haben means 'to have a gentle gait'.

**2** (wie manchmal Menschen gehen im Genesen  
(the way people sometimes walk while convalescing,
> A nominalized infinitive: genesen, 'to recover, convalesce', is turned into a neuter noun, das Genesen, simply by capitalizing the infinitive. With in dem contracted to im, im Genesen means 'in the state of recovering'.

**3** nachdenkend: was ist früher hier gewesen?)  
thinking: what was here before?)
> Present participle as adverb: nachdenkend is the present participle of the separable verb nachdenken, 'to ponder, reflect', formed with the ending -d. Used adverbially here, it describes how the subject walks: 'thinking, musing'. The prefix nach- stays fused in this form.

**4** und die an Plätze kommen, warten lang  
and the ones that reach the squares wait long
> die used as a relative pronoun: Here die is not the article but a relative pronoun meaning 'those which', referring back to die Gassen, 'the lanes'. It opens a relative clause, die an Plätze kommen, 'which come to squares', so its verb kommen stands at the clause's end.


**5** auf eine andre, die mit einem Schritt  
for another that, with a single step,
> A verb paired with a preposition: warten, 'to wait', takes the preposition auf with the accusative for the thing awaited: warten auf eine andre means 'to wait for another'. eine andre is the accusative object of auf, split across two lines.

**6** über das abendklare Wasser tritt,  
steps across the evening-clear water,
> A coined compound adjective: abendklar joins Abend, 'evening', and klar, 'clear', giving 'clear as the evening' or 'clear with evening light'. German lets a writer weld two words into one adjective this way, with no fixed dictionary entry. It modifies das Wasser, 'the water'.

**7** darin, je mehr sich rings die Dinge mildern,  
in which, the more the things around grow softer,
> A correlative je mehr comparison: je plus a comparative sets up a 'the more, the more' construction. je mehr sich die Dinge mildern, 'the more the things soften', is answered later by so wirklich wird, 'the more real it becomes'. Because the je clause is subordinate, its verb mildern comes last.

**8** die eingehängte Welt von Spiegelbildern  
the hung-in world of mirror-images
> einhängen becomes eingehängte: einhängen means 'to hang in, hook in, suspend within'. Used as a past participle before a noun, eingehängte Welt means 'the world hung in'. Spiegelbild means 'mirror-image', and von Spiegelbildern is dative plural after von.

**9** so wirklich wird, wie diese Dinge nie.  
grows as real as these things never are.
> An elliptical comparison: so wirklich, wie diese Dinge nie literally reads 'as real as these things never'. The verb is omitted after nie, 'never', which German allows in a so, wie comparison. The implied sense adds 'are' at the end.


**10** Verging nicht diese Stadt? Nun siehst du, wie  
Did this city not pass away? Now you see how
> vergehen in the simple past: vergehen means 'to pass away, fade, perish'. verging is its simple past tense, third person singular. Fronted to open the question Verging nicht diese Stadt, it asks 'did this city not pass away'. ver- is inseparable, so it never detaches from the stem.

**11** (nach einem unbegreiflichen Gesetz)  
(by some incomprehensible law)
> nach plus the dative: nach here means 'according to, in accordance with' and governs the dative, giving nach einem Gesetz, 'according to a law'. unbegreiflich, 'incomprehensible', is built on begreifen, 'to grasp, comprehend'.

**12** sie wach und deutlich wird im Umgestellten,  
it grows awake and distinct in the reversed,
> das Umgestellte as a noun: umstellen means 'to rearrange, transpose, turn around'. Its past participle umgestellt is used here as a neuter noun, das Umgestellte, 'that which has been turned around'. im Umgestellten is dative after in, contracted to im.

**13** als wäre dort das Leben nicht so selten;  
as if life there were not so rare;
> A subjunctive for an unreal comparison: als, 'as though', combined with a subjunctive verb introduces a hypothetical comparison. wäre is the subjunctive form of sein, 'to be'. als wäre dort das Leben nicht so selten means 'as though life there were not so rare'.

**14** dort hängen jetzt die Gärten groß und gelten,  
the gardens hang there now, large, and hold sway,
> A verb used without an object: gelten means 'to be valid, to count, to hold good, to carry weight'. Here it appears without an object: die Gärten gelten, 'the gardens hold sway'. It is third person plural present, coordinated with hängen by und.

**15** dort dreht sich plötzlich hinter schnell erhellten  
there, suddenly, behind swiftly lit
> A reflexive verb with a delayed subject: sich drehen means 'to turn, spin, revolve'. Its subject, der Tanz, 'the dance', only appears on the next line, so dort dreht sich plötzlich der Tanz means 'there the dance suddenly turns'. erhellt, 'lit', is the past participle of erhellen.

**16** Fenstern der Tanz in den Estaminets.  
windows the dance turns in the taverns.


**17** Und oben blieb?–Die Stille nur, ich glaube,  
And above, what stayed?—Only the stillness, I think,
> An elliptical question with bleiben: bleiben means 'to remain, stay'. blieb is its simple past tense. The question Und oben blieb drops its subject, asking 'and what remained above', and is answered after the dash by Die Stille nur, 'only the stillness'.

**18** und kostet langsam und von nichts gedrängt  
and slowly, pressed by nothing, it tastes
> kosten meaning to taste: kosten has two senses: 'to cost' and 'to taste, savor'. Here it is the second: kostet Beere um Beere means 'tastes berry after berry'. von nichts gedrängt means 'urged on by nothing', from drängen, 'to press, urge'.

**19** Beere um Beere aus der süßen Traube  
berry after berry from the sweet cluster
> Noun um noun for repetition: The pattern noun um noun with no article means 'one after another': Beere um Beere means 'berry after berry'. aus der süßen Traube is dative after aus, 'out of'; die Traube means 'cluster, bunch'.

**20** des Glockenspiels, das in den Himmeln hängt.  
of the carillon hanging in the heavens.

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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.