# Römische Fontäne · Roman Fountain

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Zwei Becken, eins das andre übersteigend  
Two basins, one rising above the other
> übersteigen, to rise above: übersteigend is the present participle of übersteigen, 'to climb over' or 'surmount', used here as an adjective for one basin surmounting the other. It is the first of a chain of present participles running through the poem: übersteigend, neigend, entgegenschweigend, zeigend.

**2** aus einem alten runden Marmorrand,  
out of an old round rim of marble,
> A marble-and-rim compound: Marmorrand joins Marmor, 'marble', and Rand, 'edge' or 'rim', in one compound noun, stressed on the first element. It is dative here after aus, 'out of', with the case masked by the adjective ending -en on alten and runden.

**3** und aus dem oberen Wasser leis sich neigend  
and from the upper water, softly inclining
> Reflexive present participle: sich neigen is reflexive, 'to bend' or 'incline'. As a present participle, sich neigend means 'inclining itself'. leis is the poetic short form of leise, 'soft', with the final -e dropped.

**4** zum Wasser, welches unten wartend stand,  
toward the water that stood waiting below,
> A relative pronoun, neuter: welches is the neuter relative pronoun, 'which' or 'that', agreeing with neuter Wasser. It is a more formal alternative to das. wartend stand pairs the participle wartend, 'waiting', with the simple past stand, 'stood'.


**5** dem leise redenden entgegenschweigend  
keeping silence toward the softly speaking one,
> A coined compound verb: entgegenschweigend fuses the separable prefix entgegen-, 'toward', with schweigen, 'to be silent', meaning 'to keep silence toward something'. dem leise redenden, 'to the softly speaking one', is the dative object entgegen- points toward.

**6** und heimlich, gleichsam in der hohlen Hand  
and secretly, as if in its cupped hand
> A word for as it were: gleichsam is an adverb meaning 'as it were' or 'so to speak', softening a comparison. Here it modifies in der hohlen Hand, 'in the cupped hand', treating the phrase as a loose approximation.

**7** ihm Himmel hinter Grün und Dunkel zeigend  
showing it the sky behind green and dark
> Participle with a dative object: zeigend is the present participle of zeigen, 'to show', continuing the participle chain from earlier lines. ihm is its dative indirect object, 'it', and Himmel, 'the sky', is the accusative direct object.

**8** wie einen unbekannten Gegenstand;  
like some unknown object;
> der Gegenstand, an object: der Gegenstand means 'an object' or 'thing', literally what stands against or opposite. wie einen unbekannten Gegenstand, 'like some unknown object', takes the accusative after wie in this comparison.


**9** sich selber ruhig in der schönen Schale  
spreading itself calmly in the lovely bowl,
> Doubled reflexive for emphasis: sich selber doubles the reflexive sich with the intensifier selber, 'itself', for emphasis. Here it modifies ruhig, 'calmly', as part of the phrase describing something spreading of its own accord.

**10** verbreitend ohne Heimweh, Kreis aus Kreis,  
without homesickness, circle out of circle,
> A compound for homesickness: das Heimweh literally means 'home-pain', and idiomatically 'homesickness', the ache of missing home. ohne Heimweh, 'without homesickness', is accusative after ohne, 'without'.

**11** nur manchmal träumerisch und tropfenweis  
only at times, dreamily and drop by drop,
> The suffix -weis: tropfenweis attaches the suffix -weis to Tropfen, 'drop', to form an adverb meaning 'by drops' or 'drop by drop'. German builds several such manner adverbs this way, for example stückweise, 'piece by piece'.


**12** sich niederlassend an den Moosbehängen  
settling down along the hanging moss,
> Reflexive present participle: sich niederlassen means 'to settle down' or 'come to rest'. As a present participle, sich niederlassend means 'settling itself down', continuing the chain of participles describing continuous motion in this stanza.

**13** zum letzten Spiegel, der sein Becken leis  
to the last mirror, which makes its basins softly
> der Spiegel, a mirror: der Spiegel means 'mirror', here used for a still, reflecting pool of water. zum letzten Spiegel, 'to the last mirror', is dative after zu, 'to', marking the destination.

**14** von unten lächeln macht mit Übergängen.  
smile from below with passages overhead.
> Infinitive as direct object: lächeln, 'to smile', is used here as an infinitive object of macht, 'makes': lächeln macht, 'makes to smile', meaning 'causes to smile'. mit Übergängen, 'with passages', is dative after mit, 'with'.

---

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.