Sophie Bennett

How does Rilke evoke moments of change in his Neue Gedichte?

As the title of the collection would suggest, the poems within Rainer Marie Rilke’s Neue
Gedichte, published in two parts in 1907 and 1908, reflect a great degree of innovation on the
part of Rilke. One such innovation is the development of Rilke’s Dinggedicht, which is evident
in this collection. While the name may suggest a sense of stasis in a description of an
inanimate object, the category of Dinggedicht can be broadened to encompass many of the
poems within the collection which describe not only single objects in great detail, but also
individuals, as well as poems which evoke a kind of transformation on the part of their subject,
which is closely intertwined with the focussed perception of this change by the speaker. These
moments of change, whether physical, psychological or changes in perspective, are conveyed
to the reader through a variety of structural, linguistic, and syntactical techniques employed
by Rilke across the poems in this collection, which could be interpreted as an exploration of
transience through the lenses of its subjects.

Insofar as a typical structural pattern to Rilke’s poetry can be established across the variety
of forms he utilises, one such structural motif is clearly evident in the poem Spanische
Tänzerin. In this poem, the moment of change is presented in the final three lines of the poem,
and this dramatic shift is signalled by the word “doch”, which is a pattern frequently utilised
by Rilke:

“und flammt noch immer und ergiebt sich nicht -.

Doch sieghaft, sicher und mit einem süßen
grüßenden Lächeln hebt sie ihr Gesicht
und stampft es aus mit kleinen Füßen.“

These final lines of the poem mark a pivotal shift in control, as it becomes clear that the
blurring of fire and the woman and her dance was an illusion, as the dancer has the power to
put out the fire and thus break the illusion. This ambiguity is reflected through a lack of names

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or epithets throughout the poem, which serves to blur the boundary between the match, the
fire, the dance and the dancer:

“Und plötzlich ist er Flamme, ganz und gar.

Mit einem Blick entzündet sie ihr Haar”

The rhyming couplet here serves to connect the “Flamme” with “sie”, although it ostensibly
refers to the dancer herself. In contrast, in the final lines, a sense of control is created as the
ambiguity disappears and it becomes clear that the dancer is the one who extinguishes the
flame and concludes her performance:

“hebt sie ihr Gesicht

und stampft es aus mit kleinen Füßen.“

The sense of control is heightened through the ABAB rhyme scheme, which serves to slow
down the pace of the poem, mirroring the control of the dancer as an artist. In turn, this
establishes a precision and clarity on the part of the speaker, as an observer. The sudden
moment of change in Spanische Tänzerin, then, reflects a twofold control on the part of the
dancer and the speaker, which serves to create a satisfying conclusion to the dance and the
poem.

In the final poem of the Neue Gedichte Erster Teil, there are two pivotal moments of change
in the perspective of the speaker, which serves to draw attention to the relationship between
the behaviour of humans and the transformations of nature, creating an almost cyclical
structure. In the poem Die Rosenschale, this moment of change comes early, as the speaker
shifts his attention from two boys fighting to the “Rosenschale”, which is, as suggested by the
title, the subject of this poem. Syntactically, this first stanza of the poem reflects the chaos of
the scene the speaker is describing, through the caesura and the long lists of nouns without
verbs:

“Schauspieler, aufgetürmte Übertreiber,

rasende Pferde, die zusammenbrachen,

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den Blick wegwerfend, bläkend das Gebiß“1

In the second stanza, there is both a tonal and a thematic shift, as the speaker addresses the
reader directly to emphasise this change in focus:

“Nun aber weißt du, wie sich das vergißt:

denn vor dir steht die volle Rosenschale”2

This directing of the reader’s attention functions as a self-conscious reflection of the role of
the speaker throughout the entire Neue Gedichte as someone who perceives and then
transforms into something meaningful, and this process is merely made obvious in this poem,
which provides a fitting conclusion to the first part of the collection. This is not the only change
in perspective in the poem, however. In the final stanza, the word “nun” is once again used,
in order to cement the central idea of the poem, that the bowl of roses is a representation of
the entire universe, the scale of which is heightened by the repetition of “und”:
“die Welt da draußen
und Wind und Regen und Geduld des Frühlings
und Schuld und Unruh und vermummtes Schicksal und Dunkelheit der abendlichen Erde
bis auf der Wolken Wandel, Flucht und Anflug,
bis auf den vagen Einfluß ferner Sterne in eine Hand voll Innres zu verwandeln.
Nun liegt es sorglos in den offnen Rosen.“ 3

This shift in perspective in the final line thus serves to render the first stanza retrospectively
not so out incongruous, as the fighting of the boys is also represented in these roses. These
moments of ostensibly sudden change in Die Rosenschale, therefore, paradoxically serve to
create a universality and a cyclicality within the poem, and a celebration of this kind of fluidity.

In a collection which focuses so much on the act of perception, on the part of both the subject
and the speaker who closely examines the subject, the poem entitled Die Erblindene requires
exploration. From its title, it appears to be in binary opposition to what is being celebrated in

1
Rilke, R., & Leishman, J. (1964). New poems. London: Hogarth Press. p. 156

2
ibid
3
Ibid. p. 158

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Neue Gedichte, namely perceiving objects and people from the mundane to the revered, and
the transformation of these singular objects or moments into a poem. The poem alludes to a
process through its title with the use of the present participle, which functions as the only
identifying feature of the female subject of this poem, which reflects the theme of transience
in the poem. This is emphasised through the changing syntax and structure of the poem,
which is initially stilted when the speaker first notices the “Erblindene”: “Sie lächelte einmal.
Es tat fast weh.”4 The caesura in this line made up of two short sentences reflects the stiffness of
the woman’s movements. The structure of the first stanza also suggests her epithet is a poetic
construction, as it implies a fluidity which is absent from this description of the woman’s carefully
considered and almost painful movements as a blind woman, not as a woman becoming blind. In
the second and third stanzas, however, the enjambement between the lines and stanzas reflects
a fluidity of movement, as if the blind woman is becoming more dynamic, which in turn reflects
the heightened level of observation and perception on the part of speaker. This change reflects
the dual relationship created in the poem; a woman is losing her sight, which is contrasted
with the perceptive gaze of the speaker who notices this throughout Rilke’s poem. The
moment of change then, functions as the climactic moment of this process, in which the
perception and the imagination of the speaker allows the subject of the poem to transcend
her blindness within the framing of the poem:

“Sie folgte langsam und sie brauchte lang

als wäre etwas noch nicht überstiegen;
und doch: als ob, nach einem Übergang,
sie nicht mehr gehen würde, sondern fliegen.“5

The moment of change here is evoked grammatically by Rilke, as in the final stanza the
potential of the blind woman is invoked through the use of the subjunctive. While her ability
to fly is entirely theoretical, it reflects her power to inspire the poetic voice, as the ability to
imagine the blind woman flying is in sharp contrast to both the way she was presented at the
beginning of the poem and the speaker’s simple descriptions of her. Die Erblindene, then,
functions as a dual celebration of the transience of the human experience and the experience

4
Ibid. p. 104
5
Ibid

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of perception, which are closely intertwined in this poem, and is encapsulated in the moment
of change as the speaker imagines the subject of the poem flying.

The moment of change in Rilke’s poem Orpheus. Eurydike. Apollo is a familiar one, as Rilke
leaves this fateful moment unchanged from the original myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. This
poem serves as a more faithful exploration of this myth, in contrast to its later inspiration of
his longer cycle of sonnets Sonette an Orpheus. Rilke’s repeated utilisation of this myth is
fitting, as the power inherent in the act of perception is central to both the original myth of
Orpheus and Eurydike and the creative impetus of Rilke’s Neue Gedichte. The most significant
innovation on the part of Rilke here is his framing of this pivotal moment. In contrast to the
myth, the conditions of Orpheus’ deal with the gods to bring Eurydike back from the
underworld are not established by the speaker; indeed Orpheus is not even named in the
poem itself, and is only referred to in the title, and by the epithet “der schlanke Mann”. The
speaker instead focuses intensely on Eurydike, contrasting Orpheus’ desperate quest for
Eurydike with her fulfilment and wholeness in death:

“Sie war in sich. Und ihr Gestorbensein

erfüllte sie wie Fülle.
Wie eine Frucht von Süßigkeit und Dunkel,
so war sie voll von ihrem großen Tode,”6
The polyptoton of the idea of “füllen” serves to further emphasise the totality of her
wholeness in her own body in death, which is elevated to something miraculous in the
following stanza as Rilke refers to her as having regained her virginity and having become
completely unsexed:“Sie war in einem neuen Mädchentum und unberührbar”. This sense of
quiet contentment in death serves to render the fateful moment of change as Orpheus turns
back to look for her even more dramatic as a decisive definitive action, yet this is undercut by
the indirect way in which it is conveyed to the reader and Eurydike herself:

“Und als plötzlich jäh

der Gott sie anhielt und mit Schmerz im Ausruf

6
Ibid. p. 142

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die Worte sprach: Er hat sich umgewendet -,”7

The “Schmerz” in Hermes’ voice is further contrasted with Eurydike’s reaction to it, which is
the only time she speaks within the narrative of the poem: “Wer?” This downplayed moment
of change serves to illuminate the transformation that has taken place before the poem
begins, namely Eurydike’s death, a death which is presented as being fulfilling and embodied.
The moment of change in this poem then, exists on a dual level; on the one hand it is a fateful
mistake on the part of Orpheus. Yet on the other, it is a manifestation and celebration of the
previous fundamental and positive change for Eurydike, thus reflecting a celebration of the
transience of life, encapsulated by Eurydike’s rejection of Orpheus, a representative of earthly
life.

Rilke’s evocation of moments of change in their various manifestation across the Neue
Gedichte, through the lenses of individuals, phenomena and shifts in perspective, then, serves
ultimately to celebrate this transience, and at its most extreme, the transience of life itself.
Across these four poems, numerous moments of change are presented, and in each instance,
the speaker’s opportunity to perceive a transformation is itself elevated to something
beautiful and worthy of immortalising through poetry.

Bibliography

Rilke, R., & Leishman, J. (1964). New poems. London: Hogarth Press.

Leeder, Karen, & Vilain, Robert. (2010). The Cambridge Companion to Rilke (The Cambridge
companions complete collection). Cambridge University Press.

Louth, Charlie. (2020). Rilke. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mason, E. (1963). Rilke (Writers and critics ; 32). Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.

7
Ibid p. 144