German · New Poems: The Other Part

Adam

14 lines · 17 notes

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1
Astonished he stands at the cathedral's
StaunendAstonishedstaunen · verb, present participledepends on steht
stehtstandsstehen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
erheer · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on steht
anatan · prepositiondepends on steht
dertheder · determiner, dative, feminine, singulardepends on Kathedrale
KathedralecathedralKathedrale · noun, dative, feminine, singulardepends on an
WordPresent participle used as adverb staunend is the present participle of staunen, 'to marvel, to be amazed', used here as an adverb meaning 'marvelling, in amazement'. It describes how er steht, 'he stands', modifying the verb rather than a noun.
2
steep ascent, close by the rose window,
GrammarGenitive noun placed before its head an der Kathedrale steilem Aufstieg means 'at the cathedral's steep ascent'. der Kathedrale is a genitive placed before its noun Aufstieg instead of after it; plain order would be am steilen Aufstieg der Kathedrale. steilem takes the dative ending -em after an.
WordCompound noun for the rose window die Fensterrose, literally 'window rose', names the large round stained-glass window on a cathedral's front, also called die Rosette. It is a compound of das Fenster, 'window', and die Rose, 'rose'.
3
as if startled by the apotheosis,
Grammarwie plus participle for 'as though' wie erschreckt means 'as though startled'. wie introduces a shortened comparison standing for wie einer, der erschreckt ist, 'like one who is startled'. erschreckt is the past participle of erschrecken, 'to startle'.
4
which grew, and all at once
WordFixed phrase for suddenness mit einem Male is a set adverbial phrase meaning 'all at once, suddenly'. Male here is a dative form of das Mal, 'time, instance'. The phrase modifies niederstellte, the verb that follows in the next stanza.
5
set him down above this one and that.
GrammarSeparable verb niederstellen niederstellte is the simple past of the separable verb niederstellen, 'to set down', built from stellen, 'to place', and the prefix nieder-, 'down'. Its subject is die Apotheose two lines back: it stellte ihn nieder, 'set him down', über die und die, 'above this one and that one'.
6
And he looms and rejoices in his endurance
Grammarsich freuen with a genitive object sich freuen, 'to rejoice', can take a genitive object in older literary German: freut sich seiner Dauer means 'rejoices in his endurance'. Modern German instead says freut sich über seine Dauer. seiner Dauer is the genitive of seine Dauer, 'his endurance'.
7
plainly resolved; like the tiller of the soil
Grammarals meaning 'like' in a comparison Here als means 'as, like', introducing a comparison rather than marking time or an unequal comparison. als der Ackerbauer means 'like the tiller of the soil', setting up the simile that runs through the rest of the poem.
WordCompound noun for farmer der Ackerbauer means 'farmer, husbandman', built from der Acker, 'field, ploughland', and der Bauer, 'peasant, farmer'. It names the man who works the soil, the figure Adam is compared to.
8
who began and who did not know how
GrammarPre-1996 spelling with ß wußte is the simple past of wissen, 'to know a fact', meaning 'knew'. The spelling with ß is the pre-1996 orthography Rilke used; today it is written wusste, because the u before it is short.
9
out of the finished, brimming Garden of Eden
WordHyphenated compound adjective fertig-voll is Rilke's own hyphenated coinage, joining fertig, 'finished, complete', and voll, 'full'. It describes the Garden of Eden as already made complete and filled to capacity.
10
to find a way out into the new earth
WordCompound noun for way out der Ausweg means 'a way out, an exit', from aus, 'out', and der Weg, 'the way'. It is the object of finden, 'to find', in the next line: einen Ausweg finden, 'to find a way out'.
11
into the new earth. God was hard to persuade;
Grammarsein plus schwer zu plus infinitive schwer zu überreden means 'hard to persuade'. The pattern sein plus schwer or leicht zu plus infinitive gives a passive sense with an active-looking infinitive: Gott war schwer zu überreden means 'God was hard to persuade'. überreden, 'to persuade', is inseparable, so über- never splits off.
12
and he threatened him, instead of granting,
Grammardrohen takes the dative drohen, 'to threaten', governs the dative case: er drohte ihm means 'he threatened him', with ihm the dative of er. statt zu gewähren, 'instead of granting', uses statt plus zu plus infinitive; gewähren means 'to grant, to allow'.
13
again and again, that he would die.
GrammarKonjunktiv I in reported speech daß er sterben werde means 'that he would die'. werde is Konjunktiv I, the subjunctive used for reported speech, marking the threat as something said rather than a fact stated by the poem. daß is the old spelling of dass, and it sends the verb werde to the end of the clause.
14
Yet the man held firm: she will give birth.
WordVerb meaning to hold firm bestand is the simple past of bestehen, 'to endure, to insist'. Used without an object, as here, it means 'held firm, stood his ground'. der Mensch bestand means 'the man held firm', his answer to God's threat.
WordFuture tense with werden gebären means 'to give birth, to bear a child'. sie wird gebären means 'she will give birth', built from wird, the present tense of werden, plus the infinitive gebären. This is the poem's only future-tense verb.

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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