{"work":{"slug":"rilke","title":{"source":"Neue Gedichte","translated":"New Poems"},"author":"Rainer Maria Rilke","language":"German","languageCode":"de","url":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke"},"unit":{"kind":"poem","number":null,"id":"tanagra","title":{"source":"Tanagra","translated":"Tanagra"},"section":"New Poems","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/tanagra","lines":19},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/die-erwachsene","next":"https://1732studios.com/books/rilke/die-erblindende","license":"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.","audioBase":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/","lines":[{"number":1,"label":"1","id":"tanagra-s1-l1","source":"Ein wenig gebrannter Erde,","translation":"A little fired earth,","stanza":1,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s1-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"gebrannter Erde","title":"Genitive after wenig, a little","body":"gebrannt is the past participle of brennen, 'to burn, fire', used here as an adjective. Erde means 'earth, clay'. gebrannter Erde, genitive after wenig, means 'of fired earth', describing what the little figure is made of."}],"words":[{"surface":"Ein","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner","role":"depends on wenig","gloss":"A"},{"surface":"wenig","lemma":"wenig","morphology":"adverb","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"little"},{"surface":"gebrannter","lemma":"gebrannt","morphology":"adjective, genitive, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Erde","gloss":"fired"},{"surface":"Erde","lemma":"Erde","morphology":"noun, genitive, feminine, singular","role":"depends on wenig","gloss":"earth"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"tanagra-s1-l2","source":"wie von großer Sonne gebrannt.","translation":"as if fired by a great sun.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s1-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"von großer Sonne gebrannt","title":"von marking the agent of a passive","body":"gebrannt, 'fired', is a past participle used passively here; von großer Sonne names the agent that did the firing, 'by a great sun'. von plus a dative noun regularly marks the doer of an action in a German passive construction."}],"words":[{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on gebrannt","gloss":"as if"},{"surface":"von","lemma":"von","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on gebrannt","gloss":"by"},{"surface":"großer","lemma":"groß","morphology":"adjective, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Sonne","gloss":"great"},{"surface":"Sonne","lemma":"Sonne","morphology":"noun, dative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on von","gloss":"sun"},{"surface":"gebrannt","lemma":"brennen","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"fired"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"tanagra-s1-l3","source":"Als wäre die Gebärde","translation":"As though the gesture","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s1-l3.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Als wäre","title":"Opening an unreal comparison","body":"als wäre means 'as though... were', introducing a comparison that is not literally true. wäre is the Subjunctive II form of sein, 'to be'. The subject, die Gebärde, 'the gesture', follows in the same clause."},{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"die Gebärde","title":"A noun for bearing or gesture","body":"die Gebärde means 'gesture, bearing, expressive movement of the body'. Here it is the subject of the unreal comparison als wäre, 'as though [the gesture] were'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Als","lemma":"als","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on wäre","gloss":"As though"},{"surface":"wäre","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, past, subjunctive, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"were"},{"surface":"die","lemma":"der","morphology":"determiner, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Gebärde","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Gebärde","lemma":"Gebärde","morphology":"noun, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on wäre","gloss":"gesture"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"tanagra-s1-l4","source":"einer Mädchenhand","translation":"of a girl's hand","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s1-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"einer Mädchenhand","title":"A genitive without von","body":"einer Mädchenhand is genitive, meaning 'of a girl's hand'. German can mark possession this way, with a genitive ending on the noun, instead of using von plus dative. Mädchenhand itself is a compound of Mädchen, 'girl', and Hand, 'hand'."}],"words":[{"surface":"einer","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, genitive, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Mädchenhand","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"Mädchenhand","lemma":"Mädchenhand","morphology":"noun, genitive, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Gebärde","gloss":"girl's hand"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"tanagra-s1-l5","source":"auf einmal nicht mehr vergangen;","translation":"were all at once no longer passed away;","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s1-l5.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"vergangen","title":"Past participle of passing away","body":"vergangen is the past participle of vergehen, 'to pass away, elapse'. nicht mehr vergangen means 'no longer passed away', with auf einmal, 'suddenly, all at once', marking how abruptly this reversal happens."}],"words":[{"surface":"auf","lemma":"auf","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on vergangen","gloss":"at"},{"surface":"einmal","lemma":"einmal","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on auf","gloss":"once","note":"\"auf einmal\" is an idiom meaning \"suddenly, all at once.\""},{"surface":"nicht","lemma":"nicht","morphology":"particle","role":"depends on vergangen","gloss":"no"},{"surface":"mehr","lemma":"mehr","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on nicht","gloss":"longer"},{"surface":"vergangen","lemma":"vergehen","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"depends on wäre","gloss":"passed away"}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"tanagra-s1-l6","source":"ohne nach etwas zu langen,","translation":"without reaching out for anything,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s1-l6.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"nach etwas langen","title":"Reaching out for something","body":"langen nach etwas means 'to reach out for something, grasp toward something'. ohne, 'without', plus a zu-infinitive forms ohne... zu langen, 'without reaching out': the gesture asks nothing and reaches for nothing."}],"words":[{"surface":"ohne","lemma":"ohne","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on langen","gloss":"without"},{"surface":"nach","lemma":"nach","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on langen","gloss":"for"},{"surface":"etwas","lemma":"etwas","morphology":"pronoun, indefinite","role":"depends on nach","gloss":"anything"},{"surface":"zu","lemma":"zu","morphology":"particle","role":"depends on langen","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"langen","lemma":"langen","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"depends on vergangen","gloss":"reaching"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"tanagra-s1-l7","source":"zu keinem Dinge hin","translation":"toward no thing at all,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s1-l7.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"zu keinem Dinge hin","title":"zu... hin, a two-part directional","body":"zu... hin means 'toward, in the direction of'; hin reinforces the direction already given by zu and typically comes at the end of its phrase. zu keinem Dinge hin means 'toward no thing at all', with keinem in the dative required by zu."}],"words":[{"surface":"zu","lemma":"zu","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on langen","gloss":"toward"},{"surface":"keinem","lemma":"kein","morphology":"determiner, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Dinge","gloss":"no"},{"surface":"Dinge","lemma":"Ding","morphology":"noun, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on zu","gloss":"thing"},{"surface":"hin","lemma":"hin","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on zu","gloss":"toward"}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"tanagra-s1-l8","source":"aus ihrem Gefühle führend,","translation":"leading out of her own feeling,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s1-l8.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"aus ihrem Gefühle","title":"An older dative ending on a noun","body":"aus takes the dative, so ihrem Gefühle, 'her feeling', is dative here, an older form with the -e ending still visible (modern usage would often drop it). aus ihrem Gefühle führend means 'leading out of her own feeling'."}],"words":[{"surface":"aus","lemma":"aus","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on führend","gloss":"out of"},{"surface":"ihrem","lemma":"ihr","morphology":"determiner, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Gefühle","gloss":"her"},{"surface":"Gefühle","lemma":"Gefühl","morphology":"noun, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on aus","gloss":"feeling"},{"surface":"führend","lemma":"führen","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on langen","gloss":"leading"}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"tanagra-s1-l9","source":"nur an sich selber rührend","translation":"only touching upon herself,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s1-l9.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"an sich selber rühren","title":"Touching only on herself","body":"an etwas rühren means 'to touch upon something, stir something'; with sich selber, 'herself', it means 'to touch only upon herself'. selber emphasizes sich, much like 'herself' emphasizes 'her' in English."}],"words":[{"surface":"nur","lemma":"nur","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on rührend","gloss":"only"},{"surface":"an","lemma":"an","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on rührend","gloss":"upon"},{"surface":"sich","lemma":"sich","morphology":"pronoun, accusative, singular, reflexive","role":"depends on an","gloss":"herself"},{"surface":"selber","lemma":"selber","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on sich","gloss":"own"},{"surface":"rührend","lemma":"rühren","morphology":"verb, participle","role":"depends on führend","gloss":"touching"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"tanagra-s1-l10","source":"wie eine Hand ans Kinn.","translation":"like a hand against the chin.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s1-l10.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"ans Kinn","title":"A contraction before the chin","body":"ans is a contraction of an das, 'to the'. an here takes the accusative because it marks contact or motion toward a point, das Kinn, 'the chin'. wie eine Hand ans Kinn means 'like a hand [placed] against the chin'."}],"words":[{"surface":"wie","lemma":"wie","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Hand","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"eine","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Hand","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"Hand","lemma":"Hand","morphology":"noun, nominative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on rührend","gloss":"hand"},{"surface":"ans","lemma":"an","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on Hand","gloss":"against"},{"surface":"Kinn","lemma":"Kinn","morphology":"noun, accusative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on ans","gloss":"chin"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"tanagra-s2-l1","source":"Wir heben und wir drehen","translation":"We lift and we turn","stanza":2,"audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s2-l1.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Wir heben und wir drehen","title":"Two coordinated first-person verbs","body":"heben, 'we lift', and drehen, 'we turn', are both first-person plural present-tense verbs, joined by und. Both share the same subject, wir, 'we', stated once before heben and repeated before drehen."}],"words":[{"surface":"Wir","lemma":"wir","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on heben","gloss":"We"},{"surface":"heben","lemma":"heben","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, first-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"lift"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on heben","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"wir","lemma":"wir","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on drehen","gloss":"we"},{"surface":"drehen","lemma":"drehen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, first-person, plural","role":"depends on und","gloss":"turn"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"tanagra-s2-l2","source":"eine und eine Figur;","translation":"one figurine and another;","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s2-l2.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"eine und eine Figur","title":"One figurine, then another","body":"eine is the feminine accusative form of ein, here used twice as a pronoun-like determiner meaning 'one' and then 'another'. eine und eine Figur means 'one figurine after another', with Figur, 'figurine, figure', understood with both."}],"words":[{"surface":"eine","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on drehen","gloss":"one"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on eine","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"eine","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on Figur","gloss":"another"},{"surface":"Figur","lemma":"Figur","morphology":"noun, accusative, feminine, singular","role":"depends on und","gloss":"figurine"}]},{"number":13,"label":"13","id":"tanagra-s2-l3","source":"wir können fast verstehen,","translation":"we can almost understand","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s2-l3.m4a","notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"wir","lemma":"wir","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on können","gloss":"we"},{"surface":"können","lemma":"können","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, first-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"can"},{"surface":"fast","lemma":"fast","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on verstehen","gloss":"almost"},{"surface":"verstehen","lemma":"verstehen","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"depends on können","gloss":"understand"}]},{"number":14,"label":"14","id":"tanagra-s2-l4","source":"weshalb sie nicht vergehen,–","translation":"why they do not fade away,—","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s2-l4.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"weshalb sie nicht vergehen","title":"weshalb sending the verb to the end","body":"weshalb means 'why, for which reason', introducing a subordinate clause. As in any German subordinate clause, the finite verb, vergehen, 'fade away', is pushed to the end, after its subject sie and the negation nicht."}],"words":[{"surface":"weshalb","lemma":"weshalb","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"depends on vergehen","gloss":"why"},{"surface":"sie","lemma":"sie","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on vergehen","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"nicht","lemma":"nicht","morphology":"particle","role":"depends on vergehen","gloss":"not"},{"surface":"vergehen,–","lemma":"vergehen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"fade away"}]},{"number":15,"label":"15","id":"tanagra-s2-l5","source":"aber wir sollen nur","translation":"but we are only to","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s2-l5.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"wir sollen","title":"sollen, an obligation","body":"sollen is a modal verb meaning 'to be supposed to, be meant to'. wir sollen nur means 'we are only meant to', setting up an infinitive that follows later in the sentence to complete the thought."}],"words":[{"surface":"aber","lemma":"aber","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on sollen","gloss":"but"},{"surface":"wir","lemma":"wir","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, plural","role":"depends on sollen","gloss":"we"},{"surface":"sollen","lemma":"sollen","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, first-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"are to"},{"surface":"nur","lemma":"nur","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on sollen","gloss":"only"}]},{"number":16,"label":"16","id":"tanagra-s2-l6","source":"tiefer und wunderbarer","translation":"more deeply and more wondrously","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s2-l6.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"tiefer und wunderbarer","title":"Two adverbs in the comparative","body":"tiefer and wunderbarer are comparative forms of tief, 'deep', and wunderbar, 'wonderful', each formed regularly with -er. Used adverbially, they mean 'more deeply' and 'more wondrously', describing how something is done rather than what it is."}],"words":[{"surface":"tiefer","lemma":"tief","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on hängen","gloss":"more deeply"},{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on tiefer","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"wunderbarer","lemma":"wunderbar","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on und","gloss":"more wondrously"}]},{"number":17,"label":"17","id":"tanagra-s2-l7","source":"hängen an dem, was war,","translation":"cling to that which was,","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s2-l7.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"hängen an dem, was war","title":"hängen an, clinging to","body":"hängen an etwas means 'to cling to, be attached to something'. dem, was war means 'that which was', with dem as the object of an and was war as a relative clause defining it: 'they cling to that which was'."}],"words":[{"surface":"hängen","lemma":"hängen","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"cling"},{"surface":"an","lemma":"an","morphology":"preposition","role":"depends on hängen","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"dem","lemma":"der","morphology":"pronoun, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on an","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"was","lemma":"was","morphology":"pronoun, nominative, neuter, singular, relative","role":"depends on war","gloss":"which"},{"surface":"war","lemma":"sein","morphology":"auxiliary verb, past, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"was"}]},{"number":18,"label":"18","id":"tanagra-s2-l8","source":"und lächeln: ein wenig klarer","translation":"and smile: a little more clearly","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s2-l8.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"lächeln","title":"The verb for smiling","body":"lächeln means 'to smile', distinct from lachen, 'to laugh'. Here it is an infinitive coordinated with hängen, 'cling', both describing what the figures continue to do: cling to the past, and smile."}],"words":[{"surface":"und","lemma":"und","morphology":"conjunction","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"lächeln","lemma":"lächeln","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"depends on und","gloss":"smile"},{"surface":"ein","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner","role":"depends on klarer","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"wenig","lemma":"wenig","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on klarer","gloss":"little"},{"surface":"klarer","lemma":"klar","morphology":"adverb, comparative","role":"depends on lächeln","gloss":"more clearly"}]},{"number":19,"label":"19","id":"tanagra-s2-l9","source":"vielleicht als vor einem Jahr.","translation":"perhaps than a year ago.","audio":"https://audio.1732studios.com/rilke/tanagra-s2-l9.m4a","notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"vor einem Jahr","title":"A year ago, with vor","body":"vor plus a dative time expression means 'ago': vor einem Jahr means 'a year ago'. als here means 'than', comparing this smile to how it was vor einem Jahr."}],"words":[{"surface":"vielleicht","lemma":"vielleicht","morphology":"adverb","role":"depends on vor","gloss":"perhaps"},{"surface":"als","lemma":"als","morphology":"conjunction","role":"depends on vor","gloss":"than"},{"surface":"vor","lemma":"vor","morphology":"preposition","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"ago"},{"surface":"einem","lemma":"ein","morphology":"determiner, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on Jahr","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"Jahr","lemma":"Jahr","morphology":"noun, dative, neuter, singular","role":"depends on vor","gloss":"year"}]}]}