German · New Poems

Auferstehung

Resurrection

15 lines · 14 notes

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1
The count makes out the sounds,
Dertheder · determiner, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on Graf
GrafcountGraf · noun, nominative, masculine, singularsubject of vernimmt
vernimmtmakes outvernehmen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
dietheder · determiner, accusative, pluraldepends on Töne
TönesoundsTon · noun, accusative, masculine, pluraldepends on vernimmt
WordA formal verb for hearing Vernehmen, third person vernimmt, is a more formal verb for 'to perceive, to make out, to catch a sound', more elevated than the everyday hören, 'to hear'. It also carries a legal sense, 'to interrogate, to take a statement'. Die Töne means 'the sounds'.
2
he sees a rift of light;
Wordlicht versus leicht Licht is an adjective meaning 'bright, full of light, luminous', related to das Licht, 'light'. Do not confuse it with leicht, 'light in weight'. Der Riß, now spelled Riss, means 'a tear, crack, rift'. Einen lichten Riß is accusative, the object of sieht.
3
he wakes his thirteen sons
4
in the family vault.
WordA compound for the family vault Erbbegräbnis combines das Erbe, 'inheritance, heritage', and das Begräbnis, 'burial, grave'. It names the hereditary family tomb that passes down a noble line. Im Erbbegräbnis is dative after in, marking location, 'in the family vault'.
5
He greets his two wives
GrammarWeak ending after a possessive Beide means 'both, the two of them'. After the possessive seine it takes the weak adjective ending -en: seine beiden Frauen means 'his two wives'. Frauen is accusative plural, the object of grüßt.
6
deferentially, from afar—;
WordA formal word for respect Ehrerbietig means 'respectful, deferential, reverent'. It is built from Ehre, 'honor', and the old verb erbieten, 'to offer, to show'. It functions here as an adverb depending on grüßt. Von weit means 'from afar'.
7
and all of them, full of trust,
GrammarA noun without an article Voll, 'full of', here governs a noun with no article: voll Vertrauen means 'full of trust'. Das Vertrauen means 'trust, confidence', from vertrauen, 'to trust'. The phrase depends on alle, 'all of them'.
8
rise up toward eternity
GrammarSeparable verb aufstehen split The verb is aufstehen, 'to stand up, to rise'. Stehn, a poetic contraction of stehen, stays in the clause while the prefix auf is placed after it. Sie stehn auf means 'they rise'. Zur Ewigkeit is dative after zu, 'toward eternity'.
9
and wait now only for Erich
GrammarTakes the accusative case Warten auf means 'to wait for'. Auf here governs the accusative, the thing awaited: auf Erich means 'for Erich'. Nur noch is an idiom meaning 'only still, nothing left but'.
10
and Ulrike Dorothea,
GrammarAn old accusative on names Ulriken and Dorotheen carry an archaic -en ending, the old way German declined personal names, especially women's, in the accusative or dative. Ulrike becomes Ulriken. Governed by warten auf from the line above, they name the second awaited child.
11
who, aged seven and thirteen,
GrammarTurning a number into an age The suffix -jährig turns a number into an age adjective: dreizehnjährig means 'thirteen years old'. The hanging hyphen in sieben- is a shared-element ellipsis standing for siebenjährig, so the phrase means 'seven years old and thirteen years old'. Die is the relative pronoun 'who' for both children.
12
(sixteen hundred and ten)
WordReading a year in hundreds German reads four-digit years in hundreds. Sechzehnhundertzehn means 'sixteen hundred ten', the year 1610. It depends on verstorben in the next line, stating the year of death.
13
died in Flanders,
GrammarPerfect tense formed with sein Versterben, 'to pass away, to die', is an elevated form of sterben. Verbs of change of state form the perfect with sein, not haben: sie sind verstorben means 'they died'. The participle verstorben and the auxiliary sind land together at the end of the relative clause.
14
so as today, ahead of the others,
GrammarA purpose clause split across lines This line opens an um zu construction, 'in order to', that completes only in the final line with herzugehn. Um heute vor den andern herzugehn means 'in order to walk ahead of the others today'. Vor den andern is dative after vor, marking position.
15
walk on, unswerving.
WordA verb of motion, split Unbeirrt means 'unswerving, undeterred', from beirren, 'to confuse, to disconcert'. Herzugehen is a separable verb of motion, 'to walk along, to come toward here'. With um zu, the zu sits inside the verb as her-zu-gehn. Together they mean 'to walk on undeterred'.

The particulars

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