# Sappho an Alkaïos · Sappho to Alcaeus

Neue Gedichte · Rainer Maria Rilke · New Poems

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

**1** Und was hättest du mir denn zu sagen,  
And what, then, would you have to say to me,
> A subjunctive making a question rhetorical: hättest is the subjunctive form of haben, 'you would have'. Combined with zu sagen, 'to say', it poses a hypothetical question rather than a plain one, closer to 'what could you possibly have to say'.

**2** und was gehst du meine Seele an,  
and what concern of my soul are you,
> A separable verb meaning concern: jemanden angehen means 'to concern someone'. As a separable verb its prefix an splits off and moves to the end of the clause, so was gehst du meine Seele an reads literally 'what do you concern my soul'.

**3** wenn sich deine Augen niederschlagen  
when your eyes are cast down
> A set idiom for lowered eyes: die Augen niederschlagen literally means 'to strike the eyes down', but as a fixed idiom it means 'to lower one's eyes', a gesture of shyness or shame. The reflexive sich niederschlagen here makes the eyes drop on their own.

**4** vor dem nahen Nichtgesagten? Mann,  
before the near, the unsaid thing? Man,
> The unsaid turned into a noun: Rilke turns the negated participle nicht gesagt, 'not said', into a single noun, das Nichtgesagte, 'the unsaid'. vor dem nahen Nichtgesagten means 'before the near, unsaid thing'.


**5** sieh, uns hat das Sagen dieser Dinge  
look — the saying of these things has

**6** hingerissen und bis in den Ruhm.  
swept us away, even into fame.
> A participle spanning a line break: hinreißen means 'to carry away, to enrapture'; hingerissen is its past participle. The clause runs over the line break, uns hat das Sagen dieser Dinge hingerissen, 'the saying of these things has swept us away'.

**7** Wenn ich denke: unter euch verginge  
When I think: among you it would fade,
> A subjunctive for an imagined case: vergehen means 'to pass away, to fade'. verginge is its subjunctive form, marking something that would happen only in an imagined case. Its subject does not appear until the next line, so the verb comes first.

**8** dürftig unser süßes Mädchentum,  
meagerly, our sweet girlhood,
> The suffix -tum names a state: Mädchen, 'girl', combines with the suffix -tum, as in Heldentum, 'heroism', to form Mädchentum, 'girlhood' as a state. dürftig means 'scanty, meager'. The line says this girlhood would dwindle among men.


**9** welches wir, ich Wissende und jene  
which we — I, the knowing one, and those
> A relative pronoun spanning a stanza: welches is a relative pronoun, 'which', neuter to agree with Mädchentum from the stanza before. Its verb, trugen, does not appear until several lines later. ich Wissende means 'I, the knowing one', using the present participle of wissen as a noun.

**10** mit mir Wissenden, vom Gott bewacht,  
knowing with me, guarded by the god,
> von names the passive agent: bewachen means 'to guard, to watch over'; bewacht is its past participle. vom, short for von dem, names who performs the action in a passive construction, 'guarded by the god'.

**11** trugen unberührt, daß Mytilene  
bore untouched, so that Mytilene
> A verb finally arrives: trugen is the simple past of tragen, 'to carry, to bear'. It is the main verb of the relative clause opened several lines earlier by welches, 'which we bore untouched'. daß, the older spelling of dass, opens a further clause after it.

**12** wie ein Apfelgarten in der Nacht  
like an apple orchard in the night

**13** duftete vom Wachsen unsrer Brüste–.  
was fragrant with the growth of our breasts—.
> A simple past for giving off scent: duften means 'to smell sweet, to give off a scent'; duftete is its simple past. vom Wachsen uses the infinitive of wachsen, 'to grow', turned into a noun, so the phrase means 'fragrant with the growing of our breasts'.
> A dash held open before the period: Rilke ends this stanza with a dash immediately followed by a period. The dash marks the sentence trailing off before the period closes it, kept here exactly as printed in the poem.


**14** Ja, auch dieser Brüste, die du nicht  
Yes, of these breasts too, which you did not

**15** wähltest wie zu Fruchtgewinden, Freier  
choose as if for garlands of fruit, you suitor
> A compound naming fruit garlands: Fruchtgewinde joins Frucht, 'fruit', with Gewinde, 'garland, coil', naming the kind of garland hung at a harvest feast. wie zu Fruchtgewinden compares the choosing to picking fruit for such garlands. wähltest is the past tense of wählen, 'to choose'.
> An older word for a suitor: der Freier is an older word for a 'suitor', someone courting for marriage, from the verb freien, 'to woo'. It sits at the end of the line and carries over as an address into the next line.

**16** mit dem weggesenkten Angesicht.  
with your face turned downward and away.
> A coined compound for a turned face: senken means 'to lower, to sink'; the prefix weg- adds 'away'. weggesenkt, 'sunk away, lowered aside', is Rilke's own coinage describing das Angesicht, an elevated word for 'face', turned downward and aside.

**17** Geh und laß mich, daß zu meiner Leier  
Go and leave me, so that to my lyre
> Two familiar-form commands: Geh, from gehen, 'to go', and laß, an older spelling of lass, from lassen, 'to leave', are both familiar-form (du) imperatives. laß mich means 'leave me alone'. die Leier is 'the lyre', the instrument of Sappho's poetry.

**18** komme, was du abhältst: alles steht.  
may come what you hold back: all stands ready.
> A subjunctive expressing a wish: komme is the subjunctive form of kommen, used here as a wish, 'may it come'. abhalten is a separable verb meaning 'to hold back, to keep off'; du abhältst means 'you hold back'.


**19** Dieser Gott ist nicht der Beistand zweier,  
This god is not the helper of a pair,
> The genitive form of two: zweier is the genitive form of zwei, 'two', meaning 'of two, of a pair'. der Beistand zweier means 'the support of two people'. der Beistand means 'aid, the one who stands by'.

**20** aber wenn er durch den einen geht  
but when he passes through the one
> durch takes the accusative: durch, 'through', governs the accusative case, here den einen, 'the one person'. The poem ends on this clause with no closing punctuation, leaving wenn er … geht, 'when he passes through', without a stated result.

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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.