# Sankt Sebastian · Saint Sebastian

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Wie ein Liegender so steht er; ganz  
Like one lying down he stands; wholly
> A participle used as a noun: liegend, 'lying', is the present participle of liegen, 'to lie down'. Capitalized and given an article, it becomes a noun: ein Liegender, 'one who lies down'. Wie ein Liegender compares his standing posture to that of a man stretched out flat.

**2** hingehalten von dem großen Willen.  
held out to the great will.
> Past participle of a separable verb: hingehalten is the past participle of the separable verb hinhalten, 'to hold something out toward'. Applied to the saint, hingehalten von dem großen Willen means 'held out by the great will', with von naming the will as the one doing the holding.

**3** Weit entrückt wie Mütter, wenn sie stillen,  
Far removed, like mothers when they nurse,
> Carried out of oneself: entrückt is the past participle of entrücken, 'to carry away, transport'; it describes a rapt, absent state lifted out of the ordinary world. weit entrückt means 'far removed, far carried away'. stillen here means 'to nurse, suckle'.

**4** und in sich gebunden wie ein Kranz.  
and bound into himself like a wreath.
> A reflexive phrase with gebunden: gebunden is the past participle of binden, 'to bind, tie'. The reflexive phrase in sich gebunden means 'bound into, within himself'. wie ein Kranz, 'like a wreath', completes the comparison: a wreath is woven shut with no loose end.


**5** Und die Pfeile kommen: jetzt und jetzt  
And the arrows come: now and now
> Repeated adverb for rhythm: der Pfeil, plural die Pfeile, means 'arrow(s)'. jetzt und jetzt, 'now and now', doubles the adverb jetzt, not a standard idiom, to mark one arrow striking after another.

**6** und als sprängen sie aus seinen Lenden,  
and as though they sprang from his own loins,
> als plus subjunctive for an unreal comparison: sprängen is the past subjunctive, Konjunktiv II, of springen, 'to spring, leap'. After als, 'as though', introducing an unreal comparison, German uses the subjunctive and places the verb right after als: als sprängen sie, 'as though they sprang'. die Lenden means 'the loins'.

**7** eisern bebend mit den freien Enden.  
iron, quivering with their free ends.
> Two words describing the arrows: eisern means 'iron, of iron', used here adverbially. bebend is the present participle of beben, 'to tremble, quiver'. mit den freien Enden means 'with their free ends', the loose feathered ends of the shafts still shivering.

**8** Doch er lächelt dunkel, unverletzt.  
Yet he smiles darkly, unharmed.
> un- negates verletzt: unverletzt means 'uninjured, unhurt', combining the prefix un- with verletzt, the participle of verletzen, 'to wound'. doch means 'yet, and yet', contrasting the arrows with the saint's untouched state.


**9** Einmal nur wird eine Trauer groß,  
Only once does a sorrow grow great,
> werden with an adjective means becoming: werden with a predicate adjective expresses becoming: groß werden means 'to grow, become great'. wird eine Trauer groß means 'a sorrow becomes great'. einmal nur, 'only once', is fronted for emphasis, sending wird ahead of its subject eine Trauer.

**10** und die Augen liegen schmerzlich bloß,  
and the eyes lie painfully bare,
> Bare and exposed: bloß as an adjective means 'bare, naked, uncovered'. bloß liegen means 'to lie exposed, to be laid bare'. schmerzlich means 'painfully', describing how the eyes lie open.

**11** bis sie etwas leugnen, wie Geringes,  
until they deny something, as a trifle,
> To deny, disavow: leugnen means 'to deny, to disavow', to refuse that something is true. wie Geringes means 'as something slight', from das Geringe, 'the small, trivial thing'. The eyes deny the pain by treating it as nothing.

**12** und als ließen sie verächtlich los  
and as though they let go in contempt
> als plus subjunctive with a separable verb: als again pairs with a past subjunctive: ließen is Konjunktiv II of lassen. The verb is the separable loslassen, 'to let go, release', split so that los lands at the line's end: ließen … los. verächtlich means 'contemptuously'.

**13** die Vernichter eines schönen Dinges.  
the destroyers of a beautiful thing.
> An agent noun governing the genitive: der Vernichter, plural die Vernichter, means 'the destroyer', the agent noun from vernichten, 'to annihilate'. It governs a genitive object: die Vernichter eines schönen Dinges, 'the destroyers of a beautiful thing'. Ding takes the genitive ending -es, becoming Dinges.

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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.