[1] vermags: Synaloepha of "vermag" and "es" without using an apostrophe. Synaloepha: Omission of a vowel to contract two words into one such as "don't," "it's."

[2] folgen: Hyperbaton. Normal word order would be "We aber, sag mir, soll / ein Mann ihm durch die schmale Leier folgen?" Interentingly enough, the prevailing iambic meter would be continued, but that would then necessitate a rhyme for "folgen."

[3] zweier: According to Duden only the cardinal numbers "zwei" and "drei" can be used in the genitive. This excludes "ein," since "ein" is also the indefinite article. "Von den weiteren Kardinalzahlen können nur 'zwei' und 'drei' im Genetiv gebeugt werden, meist wenn der Kasus nicht bereits durch ein anderes Word kenntlich gemacht ist. 'Nach den schattenhaften Gestalten zweier Polizisten . . . (Dürrenmatt)'"

[4] Apoll!: Apollo was the Greek God order, form and distance, a sort of enlightenment God of light. Nietzsche opposed him to Dionysus, the God of wine and orgiastic rituals of sex, drunkedness and self-destruction. Rilke is here comparing Apollo to Orpheus who was not only a Thracian poet and musician, capable of singing his way into Hades to attempt to free Eurydice, but also served as the model for the Orphic mysteries. This was called Orphism which arose in the sixth century, B.C. According to Sprach-Brockhaus there are three spellings of Apollo in German: "Apoll," "Apollo" and "Apollon."

[5] ein eindlich noch Erreichtes: Nominalisierung. An extended adjectivial construction using an abstract noun formed from the past participle of the verb "erreichen," the noun ending with the strong neuter "es." Literally translated it means "a finally attained [thing], which implies "a finally to be attained thing." In German the present with "sein" is often used for the passive. The normal passive would be "Das kann erreicht werden." Germans, however, often say "Das ist zu erreichen." Nominalisierung: The creation of an abstract noun from any part of speech. In German, all that is needed is to capitalize the word, be it verb, adverb, pronoun, past or present participle or conjunjction, and add the requisite case endings, if any. All such constructions are in the neuter gender.

[6] Leichtes: Nominalisierung and in this case rhyming with the previous example of German noun creation. Nominalisierung: The creation of an abstract noun from any part of speech. In German, all that is needed is to capitalize the word, be it verb, adverb, pronoun, past or present participle or conjunjction, and add the requisite case endings, if any. All such constructions are in the neuter gender.

[7] s i n d: First example of Sperrdruck in the Sonette, this time coming on an accented syllable. As with the Duineser Elegien this line-spacing emphasis was utilized instead of italics in the first edition. If you are reading an edition of the "Sonetten an Orpheus" edited by Ernst Zinn, you will encounter not only a much larger amount of italicized words, but also an aggrandized number of notes at the end of the Sonette. Sperrdruck: Spaced type formerly used for Italics and found in the Duineser Elegien and the Sonette an Orpheus. In modern editions replaced with italics.

[8] i s t s: Second example of Sperrdruck in this Sonett. Note that both of these examples came on an already stressed syllble. The beauty of the Sperrdruck is that it gives the visual equivalent of an agogic accent which further accentuates the stress accent by drawing it out. Looking at the image of this poem from the first edition, you can see that in both cases the spacing between the letters is very subtle and can be overlooked. This is obviously one reason that it has been replaced with italics which allow no such ambiguity. One reason why Rilke may have used them is that he was fluent in French and wrote books of poetry in French, where the agogic accent is just about the only accent available, standard French being basically a stressless language. Sperrdruck: Spaced type formerly used for Italics and found in the Duineser Elegien and the Sonette an Orpheus. In modern editions replaced with italics. Agogic Accent: An accent caused by relative prolongation of the word to be emphasized. Common in French poetry.

[9] den Mund dir: Dative of reference. In formal german the possessive is replaced with a dative pronoun used with the definite article.

[10] In Wahrheit singen: Elliptical for "in Wahrheit zu singen," a participle phrase which is used as the subject. Ellipsis, plural ellipses: 1.a. The omission of a word or phrase necessary for a complete syntactical construction, but not necessary for understanding.

[11] Ein Hauch : A less than perfect, but still perceivable Anadiplosis, since the preceding phrase is "ein andrer Hauch." The "Ein" is also the first of three uses thereof, creating a subtle anaphora, similar to the use of "und" in the previous sonnet. Anadiplosis: Rhetorical repetition at the beginning of a phrase of the word or words with which the previous phrase ended. Anaphora: The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs;

[12] Ein Wehn: Second repetition of "Ein" continuing the anaphora. "Wehn" is also a Syncope, since the normal spelling would be "Wehen." Anaphora: The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs. Syncope: The shortening of a word by omission of a sound, letter, or syllable from the middle of the word.

[13] Ein Wind: Last "ein" of the anaphora. Note that the last verse contains the mini-anaphora within three sentences while maintaining the iambic pentameter. The punctuation and the distance between the sentences creates the longest line in this sonnet, thus emphasizing the conclusion spacially.

[A] er: Not exactly a footnote, but a remark; In the Ernst Zinn edition this word is italicized. As you can see, it definitely is not in Sperrdruck in the first editions.