German · New Poems

Blaue Hortensie

Blue Hydrangea

14 lines · 14 notes

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1
Like the last green left in the paint-pots,
SoJustso · adverbhead of the phrase
wieaswie · prepositiondepends on Grün
dastheder · determiner, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on Grün
letztelastletzter · adjective, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on Grün
GrüngreenGrün · noun, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on wie
ininin · prepositiondepends on Grün
Farbentiegelnpaint-potsFarbentiegel · noun, dative, masculine, pluraldepends on in
WordDative plural after in Farbentiegeln is the dative plural of Farbentiegel, a compound of Farbe, 'paint', and Tiegel, 'small pot or crucible'. It names the shallow pans a painter mixes color in. The dative form follows the preposition in.
2
are these leaves, dry, dull and rough,
GrammarVerb second after fronted clause The clause opens with the comparison So wie das letzte Grün, which fills the first position in the sentence. German keeps the finite verb in second position, so sind comes before its subject diese Blätter. Read across the line break, 'are these leaves'.
3
behind the flower-clusters, which a blue
WordCompound noun for flower clusters Blütendolden combines Blüte, 'blossom', and Dolde, 'umbel', the rounded flower head where many small florets grow from one point. It is dative plural after hinter. The relative pronoun die at the end of the line refers back to it.
4
do not wear upon themselves, but only mirror from afar.
GrammarObject fronted, verbs held back ein Blau, 'a blue', is the accusative object of the relative clause, pulled to the front. Its verbs tragen and spiegeln stand at the end, as German relative clauses require. auf sich tragen means 'to carry or wear on oneself'.
5
They mirror it tear-stained and imprecise,
WordParticiple meaning tear stained verweint is the past participle of verweinen, built on weinen, 'to weep', with the prefix ver- marking a worn result. It means 'red and swollen from crying, tear-stained'. Here it describes the reflected blue, agreeing with es, the object of spiegeln.
6
as though they meant to lose it once again,
GrammarSubjunctive after als als, 'as though', directly followed by the verb, introduces an unreal comparison and takes the subjunctive. wollten is the past subjunctive of wollen, 'to want or intend'. wiederum means 'once more, again'.
7
and as in old blue letter-paper
WordCompound noun for writing paper Briefpapieren combines Brief, 'letter', and Papier, 'paper', meaning stationery or notepaper. It is dative plural, following the preposition in. The comparison to old blue writing paper continues into the next line.
8
there is yellow in them, violet and grey;
GrammarPredicate fronted before ist The predicate Gelb, 'yellow', stands before ist and its phrase in ihnen, 'in them', where ihnen is the dative plural pronoun for Briefpapieren in the line above. English needs 'there is': there is yellow in them. Color names are capitalized as nouns here.
9
Washed-out things, as on a child's pinafore,
GrammarAdjective turned into noun verwaschen, 'washed out, faded by washing', becomes a neuter noun by capitalizing it and adding -es: Verwaschnes, 'that which is washed out'. German freely turns adjectives into nouns this way. The full ending -enes is shortened to -nes for the meter.
10
no-longer-worn things, to which nothing more happens:
WordA phrase made into one word nicht mehr getragen, 'no longer worn', is fused into one nominalized adjective, Nichtmehrgetragnes, 'that which is no longer worn'. tragen here means 'to wear clothes'. The dative relative dem nichts mehr geschieht means 'to which nothing more happens'.
11
how one feels the brevity of a small life.
GrammarGenitive placed before its noun eines kleinen Lebens is genitive, 'of a small life', placed before its noun Kürze, 'shortness, brevity'. Prose order would be die Kürze eines kleinen Lebens. The impersonal man, 'one', is the subject of fühlt, 'feels'.
12
Yet suddenly the blue seems to renew itself
WordA rare reflexive verb verneuen is a rare, near archaic verb meaning 'to renew, make new again'. The reflexive sich verneuen means 'to renew itself'. Modern German would usually say sich erneuern. scheint zu verneuen uses scheinen zu plus infinitive, 'to seem to do'.
13
in one of the clusters, and one sees
GrammarPartitive phrase for one of einer is the feminine dative form of eine, 'one', after in: in einer means 'in one'. von den Dolden means 'of the clusters', the partitive construction 'one of'. Dolde is the umbel named earlier as Blütendolde.
14
a touching blue rejoice before the green.
GrammarNominalized adjective with reflexive verb Blaues is again an adjective turned noun, 'a blue thing', modified by rührend, 'moving, touching', left in its bare uninflected form. sich freuen means 'to be glad, to rejoice'. With vor plus dative, vor Grünem means 'before, against the green'.

The particulars

The text: Neue Gedichte, Rainer Maria Rilke. New Poems.
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