# Samuels Erscheinung vor Saul · Samuel's Apparition before Saul

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems: The Other Part

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/samuels-erscheinung-vor-saul. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/samuels-erscheinung-vor-saul.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/<line id>.m4a.

**1** Da schrie die Frau zu Endor auf: Ich sehe–  
Then the woman of Endor cried out: I see–
> Separable verb aufschreien: aufschreien, 'to cry out', is a separable verb. The prefix auf- detaches and moves to the end of the clause, giving schrie ... auf. schrie is the simple past of schreien, 'to scream'.

**2** Der König packte sie am Arme: Wen?  
The king seized her by the arm: Whom?
> Dative with an, the arm: German names the body part gripped with an plus dative: packte sie am Arme, 'seized her by the arm'. am is a contraction of an dem. Arme carries an old dative -e ending kept here for the verse.
> Accusative wen: wen is the accusative form of wer, 'who'. English keeps this distinction only as 'whom'. Here it marks the object of seeing, the thing Saul asks the woman to name.

**3** Und da die Starrende beschrieb, noch ehe,  
And as the staring woman described, even before that,
> Participle used as noun: starrend, 'staring', is a present participle. Adding the feminine article turns it into a noun, die Starrende, 'the staring woman'. German regularly makes nouns this way from participles, declining them like adjectives.

**4** da war ihm schon, er hätte selbst gesehn:  
it already seemed to him he had seen it himself:
> Impersonal es war ihm: war ihm schon, literally 'was to him already', is an impersonal idiom meaning 'it already seemed to him'. The person who has the impression stands in the dative, ihm. It introduces the unreal impression in the next clause.
> Subjunctive hätte gesehn: hätte gesehn is the past subjunctive, Konjunktiv II, of sehen, 'to see', built with hätte plus the participle. It marks an impression, not a fact: he only felt as though he had seen it himself. gesehn is a shortened verse form of gesehen.


**5** den, dessen Stimme ihn noch einmal traf:  
him whose voice struck him one more time:
> Genitive relative dessen: dessen is the genitive form of the relative pronoun der, meaning 'whose'. den, dessen Stimme means 'him, whose voice'. den itself is accusative, picking up the object of Ich sehe from the line before.

**6** Was störst du mich? Ich habe Schlaf.  
Why do you disturb me? I am sleeping.
> was meaning why: was here means 'why' rather than 'what', a colloquial use: was störst du mich means 'why are you disturbing me'. stören takes an accusative object, du störst mich. Ich habe Schlaf literally says 'I have sleep', meaning 'I am resting'.

**7** Willst du, weil dir die Himmel fluchen,  
Do you mean, because the heavens curse you,
> Dative object with fluchen: fluchen, 'to curse', takes a dative object: die Himmel fluchen dir means 'the heavens curse you'. fluchen stands at the end of the clause because weil, 'because', is a subordinating conjunction. Willst du here means 'do you mean to', completed later in the sentence.

**8** und weil der Herr sich vor dir schloß und schwieg,  
and because the Lord closed himself off from you and fell silent,
> Reflexive sich schließen: sich schließen, 'to close oneself off', describes God shutting himself away vor dir, 'from you'. schloß and schwieg are the preterites of schließen and schweigen, 'to be silent'. schloß keeps the old ß spelling, written schloss today.

**9** in meinem Mund nach einem Siege suchen?  
to search my mouth for a victory?
> suchen nach plus dative: nach etwas suchen means 'to search for something', with nach taking the dative: nach einem Siege, 'for a victory'. Siege is the dative of Sieg with an old -e ending. This infinitive completes the question begun earlier with Willst du.

**10** Soll ich dir meine Zähne einzeln sagen?  
Shall I tell you my teeth one by one?
> Adverb einzeln: einzeln means 'singly, one by one, individually'. It describes how he would name his teeth, meine Zähne einzeln sagen, 'tell you my teeth one by one'.

**11** Ich habe nichts als sie.... Es schwand. Da schrie  
I have nothing but them.... It vanished. Then cried
> nichts als, nothing but: nichts als means 'nothing but, nothing except'. sie refers back to meine Zähne, 'my teeth', from the previous line. Es schwand is the preterite of schwinden, 'to dwindle, fade, vanish', marking the vision's disappearance.

**12** das Weib, die Hände vors Gesicht geschlagen,  
the woman, her hands flung before her face,
> Neuter noun das Weib: das Weib is an older word for 'woman', neuter in gender though it names a female person. It takes the article das, not die. The word survives mainly in older or biblical German, and can sound archaic today.
> Participle phrase without a verb: die Hände vors Gesicht geschlagen, 'her hands struck before her face', is a compact participial phrase with no finite verb of its own. vors is a contraction of vor das. Motion toward a position, 'to in front of', takes vor with the accusative.

**13** als ob sie's sehen müßte: Unterlieg–  
as if she had to see it: You will fall–
> als ob plus subjunctive: als ob introduces an unreal comparison and triggers Konjunktiv II: müßte is the past subjunctive of müssen, 'must'. The clause implies she felt compelled to see it, not that she truly was. sie's contracts sie es. müßte keeps the old ß, written müsste today.
> Bare imperative stem: Unterlieg is the bare imperative stem of unterliegen, 'to succumb, to be defeated'. The dash cuts the word off mid sentence. As an imperative it addresses Saul directly: be defeated, or go under.


**14** Und er, der in der Zeit, die ihm gelang,  
And he, who in the time that went well for him,
> gelingen plus dative: gelingen, 'to succeed, to turn out well', is impersonal and takes a dative object: die Zeit, die ihm gelang means 'the time that went well for him'. gelang is its preterite. The dative ihm marks the person the time favored.

**15** das Volk wie ein Feldzeichen überragte,  
towered over the people like a battle-standard,
> überragen plus accusative: überragen means 'to rise above, to tower over, to surpass', and takes a direct accusative object: das Volk. überragte is its preterite, third person singular. The subject is the king from the line before, described as towering over the people.

**16** fiel hin, bevor er noch zu klagen wagte:  
fell down before he even dared to lament:
> Separable verb hinfallen: hinfallen, 'to fall down, to collapse', is a separable verb. The prefix hin-, marking motion away from the speaker, splits off to the end: fiel ... hin. The main verb arrives only after the long subject clause beginning Und er, der.
> wagen zu plus infinitive: wagen, 'to dare', takes zu plus an infinitive: er ... zu klagen wagte means 'he dared to lament'. klagen means 'to lament, to wail, to complain'. The clause says he fell before he could even dare to cry out.

**17** so sicher war sein Untergang.  
so certain was his downfall.
> Noun Untergang, downfall: Untergang means 'downfall, ruin, destruction', literally a 'going under', from untergehen, used also of the sun setting. Fronting so sicher, 'so certain', pushes the verb war ahead of its subject sein Untergang, an emphatic word order.

**18** Die aber, die ihn wider Willen schlug,  
But she, who against her will had struck him down,
> Demonstrative pronoun die: The first die here is a demonstrative pronoun meaning 'she, that one', not the article: Die aber, die means 'But she, who'. The second die begins the relative clause that follows. aber, 'but', sits in second position.
> Fixed phrase wider Willen: wider Willen means 'against one's will, unwillingly'. wider is an older preposition meaning 'against', taking the accusative, and is distinct from wieder, 'again'. She struck Saul down wider Willen, only because forced to.

**19** hoffte, daß er sich faßte und vergäße;  
hoped that he would collect himself and forget;
> Subjunctive after hoffte, daß: After hoffte, daß, 'hoped that', the verbs stand in Konjunktiv II: faßte and vergäße express a hoped-for outcome, not a fact. sich fassen means 'to compose oneself, to collect oneself'; vergäße is the subjunctive of vergessen, 'to forget'.

**20** und als sie hörte, daß er nie mehr äße,  
and when she heard that he would never eat again,
> Subjunctive äße: äße is the past subjunctive, Konjunktiv II, of essen, 'to eat'. It follows daß after hörte, 'heard', because the clause reports what she learned as a claim, not a witnessed fact: that he would never eat again.

**21** ging sie hinaus und schlachtete und buk  
she went out and slaughtered and baked
> Preterites schlachtete and buk: schlachtete is the preterite of schlachten, 'to slaughter'. buk is the preterite of backen, 'to bake', an older strong form; modern German more often uses backte. Both verbs describe her preparing a meal.

**22** und brachte ihn dazu, daß er sich setzte;  
and brought him to sit down;
> bringen jemanden dazu, daß: jemanden dazu bringen, daß means 'to bring someone to the point that, to get someone to do something'. brachte is the preterite of bringen, 'to bring'. dazu points forward to the daß clause naming what she got him to do: sich setzen, 'to sit down'.

**23** er saß wie einer, der zu viel vergißt:  
he sat like one who forgets too much:

**24** alles, was war, bis auf das Eine, Letzte.  
everything that was, except the one, last thing.
> bis auf, meaning except: bis auf means 'except for, apart from'. alles, was war, bis auf das Eine, Letzte means 'everything that was, except for the one, last thing'. Eine and Letzte are adjectives used as nouns, both taking the accusative neuter ending.

**25** Dann aß er, wie ein Knecht zu Abend ißt.  
Then he ate, as a servant eats his evening meal.
> Noun Knecht, servant: Knecht means 'servant, farmhand'. wie ein Knecht zu Abend ißt compares Saul's plain last meal to a servant eating his ordinary evening food, zu Abend essen, 'to eat supper'.

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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.