# Schlafmohn · Opium Poppy

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

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

**1** Abseits im Garten blüht der böse Schlaf,  
Off to one side in the garden the evil sleep blooms,
> The poppy split from its name: The title Schlafmohn, 'sleep-poppy', names the opium poppy. The opening line splits the compound: der böse Schlaf, 'the evil sleep', is the flower itself, named for the narcotic stupor it gives. abseits means 'off to the side, apart'.

**2** in welchem die, die heimlich eingedrungen,  
in which those who had secretly broken in
> Separable verb, perfect participle: eindringen, 'to penetrate, intrude, break in', is separable, ein- plus dringen. eingedrungen is its past participle, with the auxiliary sind understood: die heimlich eingedrungen [sind] means 'those who had secretly intruded'. heimlich means 'secretly'.

**3** die Liebe fanden junger Spiegelungen,  
found the love of young reflections,
> Genitive of belonging: die Spiegelung is a 'reflection, mirroring', from spiegeln, 'to mirror'; the genitive plural junger Spiegelungen, 'of young reflections', hangs on die Liebe. Read as fanden die Liebe junger Spiegelungen, 'found the love of young reflections'; word order is fluid in verse.

**4** die willig waren, offen und konkav,  
which were willing, open and concave,
> Concave, hollowed inward: willig, 'willing, compliant', offen, 'open', and konkav, 'concave, hollowed inward', all describe die Spiegelungen, reflections that yield, open out, and curve inward like a hollow mirror. The Latinate konkav lends a cool, precise tone.


**5** und Träume, die mit aufgeregten Masken  
and dreams that with agitated masks
> Agitated, worked up: aufgeregt means 'excited, agitated, worked up', from aufregen, 'to excite, stir up'; die Maske is a theatrical 'mask'. mit aufgeregten Masken takes the dative plural after mit and describes the Träume, 'dreams', that auftraten in the next line.

**6** auftraten, riesiger durch die Kothurne–:  
made their entrance, made huger by the buskins—:
> To make an entrance: auftreten, 'to appear, step on stage, make an entrance', is separable, auf- plus treten, 'to step'; auftraten is its simple past plural. It governs Träume from the line above. riesiger is the comparative of riesig, 'gigantic', 'made even huger'.

**7** das alles stockt in diesen oben flasken  
all of that stalls in these, slack at the top,
> To halt, congeal: das alles, 'all of that', gathers everything named before it as the subject. stocken means 'to come to a halt, stall, congeal', as blood or speech can stocken. in diesen, 'in these', dative plural, points ahead to the stems named in the next line.
> A rare dialect adjective: flask, here inflected flasken, is a rare, dialectal adjective meaning 'slack, limp, flabby', close to schlaff. oben flasken ... Stengeln means 'stems slack at the top', the poppy's stalks drooping under the weight of the swelling seed-head.

**8** weichlichen Stengeln, die die Samenurne  
soft stems, which the seed-urn
> A coined compound noun: Samenurne joins Samen, 'seed', and Urne, 'urn': the poppy's round, capped seed-capsule figured as an urn. weichlich, 'soft, weakly', describes the dative plural Stengeln, 'stems', that carry it. The relative die ... die opens a clause completed by heben, 'raise'.


**9** (nachdem sie lang, die Knospe abwärts tragend  
(after they had long, bearing the bud downward,
> Subordinate after-clause: nachdem, 'after', is a subordinating conjunction, so it sends its finite verb, meinten, 'thought', to the end of the clause, reached only on the next line. abwärts means 'downward'; tragend, 'bearing', is the present participle of tragen, 'to carry'.

**10** zu welken meinten) festverschlossen heben:  
thought they would wilt) raise tight-shut:
> Meinen governs a zu-infinitive: welken means 'to wilt, wither, fade'; zu welken meinten means 'thought they would wilt'. meinen takes a zu-infinitive to report what the stems believed of themselves, closing the nachdem-clause. festverschlossen, 'tightly shut', describes the urn as the stems raise it.

**11** gefranste Kelche auseinanderschlagend,  
flinging fringed calyxes apart,
> Separable verb, to fling apart: auseinanderschlagen, 'to fling apart, throw open', is separable, auseinander-, 'apart', plus schlagen, 'to beat, strike'; here it is the present participle auseinanderschlagend, describing how the stems raise the urn. gefranst means 'fringed, frayed'.

**12** die fieberhaft das Mohngefäß umgeben.  
which feverishly surround the poppy-vessel.
> Compound noun and its verb: Mohngefäß joins Mohn, 'poppy', and Gefäß, 'vessel', naming the poppy's seed-capsule once more. umgeben, 'to surround, encircle', governs das Mohngefäß as its object: the fringed calyxes 'feverishly surround the poppy-vessel'. fieberhaft means 'feverish, frantic'.

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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.