# Schlangenbeschwörung · Snake Charming

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

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

**1** Wenn auf dem Markt, sich wiegend, der Beschwörer  
When in the marketplace, swaying, the charmer
> The one who casts the spell: der Beschwörer is an agent noun from beschwören, 'to conjure, invoke, charm', itself built on schwören, 'to swear'. It names the one who casts the spell, here the snake-charmer, and gives the poem its title, Schlangenbeschwörung, 'snake-charming'.
> Reflexive present participle: wiegen here is used reflexively, sich wiegen, 'to sway, to rock oneself'. The present participle sich wiegend works as an adverbial phrase set off by commas, describing how the charmer moves.

**2** die Kürbisflöte pfeift, die reizt und lullt,  
pipes the gourd-flute that teases and lulls,
> A compound noun for the pipe: die Kürbisflöte joins Kürbis, 'gourd, pumpkin', with Flöte, 'flute'. It names the snake-charmer's reed pipe with its gourd wind-chamber. German builds such single-word compounds where English needs a phrase.

**3** so kann es sein, daß er sich einen Hörer  
then it may be that he draws himself a listener
> The older spelling of dass: daß, 'that', is the pre-1996 spelling, kept here as Rilke printed it; modern orthography writes dass. It introduces a subordinate clause, so the conjugated verb is pushed to the end, completed two lines later by herüberlockt.

**4** herüberlockt, der ganz aus dem Tumult  
over toward him, one wholly out of the tumult
> Separable verb at clause end: locken means 'to lure, to entice'; the prefix herüber, 'over here, across toward the speaker', gives herüberlocken, 'to lure over here'. As the verb of the daß-clause it lands at the end, completing daß er sich einen Hörer herüberlockt, 'that he lures a listener over toward himself'.


**5** der Buden eintritt in den Kreis der Pfeife,  
of the stalls, steps into the circle of the pipe,
> Genitive plural across a line break: die Bude, 'stall, booth', appears here as the genitive plural der Buden, completing aus dem Tumult der Buden, 'out of the tumult of the stalls', from the previous line. Rilke splits the noun phrase across the stanza break.

**6** die will und will und will und die erreicht,  
which wills and wills and wills and which achieves
> will repeated three times: will is the third-person form of wollen, 'to want, to will'. The threefold repetition, die will und will und will, has no further grammatical function beyond coordinating three identical clauses with und, 'and'.

**7** daß das Reptil in seinem Korb sich steife  
that the reptile in its basket stiffen
> Subjunctive of result: erreichen, daß ... , 'to bring it about that ...', governs a subjunctive clause. steife, from sich steifen, 'to stiffen', carries the result the pipe achieves. The -e ending marks Konjunktiv I, reporting an intended effect.

**8** und die das steife schmeichlerisch erweicht,  
and which, flatteringly, softens the stiffened thing again,
> An adverb from schmeicheln: schmeichlerisch is an adverb from schmeicheln, 'to flatter, to cajole'. das steife schmeichlerisch erweicht means 'flatteringly softens the stiffened thing'. das steife uses the adjective steif, 'stiff', as a noun, 'the stiffened thing'.


**9** abwechselnd immer schwindelnder und blinder  
by turns ever more dizzying and more blind
> Comparatives with immer: immer before a comparative means 'ever more, increasingly'. schwindelnder, 'more dizzying', from schwindeln, and blinder, 'more blind', both intensify in step with abwechselnd, 'by turns'.

**10** mit dem, was schreckt und streckt, und dem, was löst–;  
with that which frightens and rears, and that which releases—;
> schreckt, streckt, löst: Three verbs name the snake's states: schreckt, 'startles, terrifies'; streckt, 'stretches, rears up'; löst, 'loosens, releases'. All three are third-person singular present forms depending on the relative pronoun was, 'that which'.

**11** und dann genügt ein Blick: so hat der Inder  
and then one glance suffices: so the Indian
> Impersonal sufficing: genügen, 'to suffice, to be enough', takes its sufficient thing as subject: ein Blick genügt means 'a single glance is enough'. The verb-first order, und dann genügt ein Blick, throws the weight onto dann, 'then'.

**12** dir eine Fremde eingeflößt,  
has instilled a strangeness into you,
> Dative recipient of einflößen: einflößen means 'to instil, to pour into, to administer'. It takes a dative for the recipient: dir ... eingeflößt means 'instilled into you'. eine Fremde, 'a strangeness', is the accusative object of the participle.


**13** in der du stirbst. Es ist, als überstürze  
in which you die. It is as though a burning
> als with subjunctive, 'as though': Es ist, als ... , 'it is as though ...', governs Konjunktiv II, the mood of the unreal. überstürze is morphologically Konjunktiv I because the Konjunktiv II form of this weak verb would look identical to the past tense, so literary German substitutes Konjunktiv I to keep the subjunctive clear.

**14** glühender Himmel dich. Es geht ein Sprung  
sky came crashing over you. A crack runs
> ein Sprung geht durch: der Sprung can mean 'leap' but here means 'crack, fissure', as in cracked glass. es geht ein Sprung durch dein Gesicht means 'a crack runs through your face'. The expletive es only fills the front position; the real subject is ein Sprung.

**15** durch dein Gesicht. Es legen sich Gewürze  
through your face. Spices settle themselves
> Placeholder es: es again only opens the sentence; the plural verb legen agrees with the real plural subject Gewürze, 'spices'. sich legen here is reflexive, meaning 'to settle, to lay themselves down'.

**16** auf deine nordische Erinnerung,  
over your northern remembrance,


**17** die dir nichts hilft. Dich feien keine Kräfte,  
which helps you nothing. No powers ward you,
> To make charm-proof: feien is a rare, archaic verb meaning 'to make invulnerable, to charm against harm', related to Fee, 'fairy'; its past participle gefeit survives in gegen etwas gefeit sein, 'to be proof against something'. Dich feien keine Kräfte means 'no powers make you charm-proof', with the object dich placed first for emphasis.

**18** die Sonne gärt, das Fieber fällt und trifft;  
the sun ferments, the fever falls and strikes;
> To ferment: gären means 'to ferment, to seethe', the process of wine or dough working. die Sonne gärt casts the sun as a seething heat. fällt und trifft, 'falls and strikes', are two coordinated verbs describing the fever.

**19** von böser Freude steilen sich die Schäfte,  
with wicked joy the shafts rear up,
> Dative of cause: von plus the dative böser Freude gives the cause, 'out of wicked joy'. sich steilen, a coinage from steil, 'steep', means 'to rear up steeply'. die Schäfte, 'the shafts', are the snakes' raised bodies, the subject of the reflexive verb.

**20** und in den Schlangen glänzt das Gift.  
and in the snakes the venom gleams.
> A false friend: das Gift means 'poison, venom' in modern German, a false friend of English 'gift'. It once meant 'something given'; the English sense survives in German only in Mitgift, 'dowry'.

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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.