German · New Poems: The Other Part

Abendmahl

The Last Supper

16 lines · 18 notes

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1
Something eternal wants toward us. Who has the choice
EwigesSomething eternalewig · noun (substantivized adjective), nominative, neuter, singulardepends on will
willwantswollen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
zutowardzu · prepositiondepends on will
unsuswir · pronoun, dative, pluraldepends on zu
WerWhower · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on hat
hathashaben · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
dietheder · determiner, accusative, feminine, singulardepends on Wahl
WahlchoiceWahl · noun, accusative, feminine, singulardepends on hat
GrammarAn adjective used as a noun ewig, 'eternal', is used here as a neuter noun, Ewiges, 'something eternal'. Capitalized and standing alone as the subject, it takes no further modifier. will zu uns, 'wants toward us', has no stated object.
2
and parts the great and the lesser forces?
Wordgroß and gering, paired adjectives groß means 'great, large', printed here with ß as großen in the accusative plural. gering means 'slight, small, of little weight'. die Kräfte is the plural of die Kraft, 'force, power', the object of trennt, 'parts'.
3
Do you make out, through the dimming of affairs,
GrammarA yes/no question by inversion German forms a yes/no question by putting the verb first: Erkennst du ...? means 'Do you perceive ...?'. erkennen means 'to recognize, perceive, discern'. The question continues across the next two lines before reaching its object.
WordBusiness, dealings das Geschäft means 'business, dealing, transaction'; der Geschäfte is the genitive plural, 'of the dealings'. das Dämmern der Geschäfte means 'the dimming of affairs', with Dämmern the noun form of dämmern, 'to grow dim'.
4
in the clear back room, the Last Supper:
5
how they keep it for themselves and how they pass it round
Grammarsich and es fused sich's contracts the dative reflexive sich with es, 'it'. sie halten sich's is 'they keep it for themselves', and sie reichen sich's is 'they pass it to one another', with sich now used reciprocally, 'to each other'.
6
and in the act rest plainly and gravely.
WordAct, or sacred rite die Handlung means 'action, act', and in a religious sense 'a sacred rite' (as in die heilige Handlung, the holy ceremony). in der Handlung beruhn means 'rest within the act'. beruhn is a poetic shortening of beruhen, 'to rest, be grounded'.
7
Out of their hands the signs lift themselves;
GrammarThe reflexive of heben heben means 'to lift, raise'; the reflexive sich heben means 'to rise, to lift itself'. The subject die Zeichen follows the verb because the sentence opens with aus ihren Händen, 'out of their hands'. das Zeichen means 'the sign'.
8
they do not know that they make them
Grammardaß sends the verb to the end daß, 'that' (the pre-1996 spelling of dass), opens a subordinate clause and pushes the verb to the end: daß sie sie tun, 'that they do them'. The two instances of sie differ: the first is the subject 'they', the second the object 'them'.
9
and ever anew, with words of some kind or other,
WordSome or other irgendwelche means 'some ... or other, any sort of', stressing indefiniteness. mit irgendwelchen Worten means 'with whatever words'. immer neu means 'ever anew'. Worten is the dative plural of das Wort, 'word'.
10
instituting what one drinks and what one shares.
WordTo institute, to ordain einsetzen (separable: ein plus setzen) carries a liturgical sense, 'to institute, to ordain', the term for Christ's instituting of the sacrament. Its subject carries over from the line before. was man trinkt und was man teilt means 'what one drinks and what one shares', with the impersonal man, 'one'.
11
For there is no one who does not, everywhere,
GrammarA double negative keiner means 'no one'; der nicht ... opens a relative clause, 'who does not ...'. Together, keiner, der nicht means 'no one who does not', so everyone does. The relative der sends its verb, geht, to the end of the next line.
12
secretly departs from here even as he stays.
WordTo depart, archaic von hinnen gehen is an old, elevated phrase for 'to go away from here, to depart'. hinnen is an archaic word for 'from here'. It is set against indem er weilt, 'while he lingers', in the same line.
GrammarWhile, at the same moment indem is a subordinating conjunction meaning 'while, even as', marking two things happening at once. indem er weilt means 'while he lingers'. Like every indem-clause, it sends its verb to the end. weilen means 'to linger, to stay'.
13
And is there not always one among them seated,
GrammarA rhetorical question by inversion Putting the verb first forms a question: Und sitzt nicht immer einer ...? means 'And does there not always sit one ...?'. The nicht makes it rhetorical, expecting 'yes, there is'. einer means 'one (person)'; unter ihnen, 'among them', takes the dative after unter.
14
who his parents, who fearfully serve him,
Grammardienen takes the dative dienen, 'to serve', governs the dative, so the one served is ihm, 'him', not an accusative. die ihm ängstlich dienen, 'who anxiously serve him', is a relative clause describing seine Eltern, 'his parents'. The main verb of the sentence, wegschenkt, is held to the next line.
15
gives away to their used-up time?
GrammarA separable verb wegschenken, 'to give away as a gift', is separable: weg plus schenken. Here it closes the relative clause begun two lines earlier. schenken means 'to give (as a present)', so wegschenken is to give away freely.
WordDone with, finished off abgetan is the past participle of abtun, 'to dismiss, to be done with', used here as an adjective: 'finished, dealt with'. ihre abgetane Zeit means 'their used-up, dismissed time', agreeing with feminine Zeit in the accusative.
16
(To sell them outright would be going too far for him.)
Grammarzu-infinitive as subject Sie zu verkaufen, 'to sell them', is a zu-infinitive phrase standing as the subject of ist ... zu weit. Sie is the accusative object, referring to the parents. ist ihm schon zu weit is the idiom 'goes too far for him'. The line is set off in parentheses.

The particulars

The text: Neue Gedichte, Rainer Maria Rilke. New Poems: The Other Part.
Reading aloud: Digital narration, directed by 1732 Studios.
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