German · New Poems

Buddha

12 lines · 11 notes

Tap a line to open its words. The mark beside it plays it.

1
As if he were listening. Stillness: a distance....
Alsasals · subordinating conjunctiondepends on horchte
obifob · subordinating conjunctiondepends on horchte
erheer · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singularsubject of horchte
horchtewere listeninghorchen · verb, past, subjunctive, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
StillestillnessStille · noun, nominative, feminine, singularhead of the phrase
eineaein · determiner, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on Ferne
FernedistanceFerne · noun, nominative, feminine, singularin apposition to Stille
GrammarAls ob plus subjunctive Als ob means 'as though' and governs the subjunctive: horchte is the past subjunctive, Konjunktiv II, of horchen, 'to listen intently, to hearken'. Because als ob is subordinating, the verb moves to the end of its clause.
2
We pause, and hear it no longer.
GrammarSeparable verb einhalten The verb is einhalten, 'to pause, to stop short'. In a main clause its separable prefix ein splits off and moves to the end: wir halten ein means 'we stop short'. Sie, 'it', is feminine because it refers back to eine Ferne, 'the distance'.
3
And he is star. And other great stars,
GrammarPredicate noun without an article German usually takes an article here, but this line drops it: er ist Stern, not er ist ein Stern. The bare noun names a state of being rather than a countable thing.
4
which we do not see, stand round about him.
WordAll around, round about The frame um … her means 'all around, round about': um ihn her, 'all around him'. Stehen, 'stand', has andre große Sterne from the previous line as its subject, with die wir nicht sehen, 'which we do not see', folded in as a relative clause.
5
Oh, he is everything. Really, are we waiting
6
for him to see us? Should he have need?
GrammarSubjunctive after warten dass Sähe is the Konjunktiv II of sehen, 'to see'. After warten … daß, 'to wait that, to wait for', the subjunctive frames an outcome that is unreal or only hoped for. Bedürfen, 'to have need of', governs the genitive and stands here alone.
7
And were we to throw ourselves down before him here,
GrammarSeparable verb, subjunctive form Sich niederwerfen means 'to prostrate oneself, to throw oneself down'. Here it is reflexive, uns, and in Konjunktiv II, niederwürfen, from warfen, forming an unreal condition with wenn: 'even if we were to throw ourselves down'. In the subordinate clause the whole verb, prefix included, stays at the end.
8
he would stay deep and torpid as an animal.
GrammarThe result clause, subjunctive Bliebe is the Konjunktiv II of bleiben, 'to remain'. It is the result half of the unreal condition begun by wenn … niederwürfen: 'even if we prostrated ourselves, he would remain'. Träge means 'sluggish, torpid, slow'.
9
For that which drags us down to his feet
GrammarThat which, a headless relative Das, was is the headless relative construction 'that which, the thing that'. Was introduces the relative clause and reißt, from reißen, 'to tear, to drag', closes it at the end. Zu seinen Füßen means 'to his feet', with Füßen in the dative plural after zu.
10
has circled within him for millions of years.
GrammarSeit plus the present tense German uses the present tense with seit, 'since, for', for an action that began in the past and still continues: das kreist … seit Millionen Jahren means 'that has circled for millions of years', and still circles. English needs the perfect tense to say the same thing.
11
He, who forgets what we experience,
WordA stem changing verb, old spelling Vergißt is the third person present of vergessen, 'to forget', with the stem vowel shifting from e to i. It is printed with ß after a short vowel, the spelling standard before the 1996 reform, modern vergisst, and is kept here exactly as printed.
12
and who experiences what turns us away.
WordTo refer away, to dismiss Verweisen can mean 'to refer or point elsewhere' and also 'to send away, to dismiss, to banish'. It is set here against erfahren, 'to come to know, to experience'. Rilke's erfahrt stands for the modern present erfährt.

The particulars

The text: Neue Gedichte, Rainer Maria Rilke. New Poems.
Reading aloud: Digital narration, directed by 1732 Studios.
The app: The same text on your phone, your place kept, the audio offline. The first poems free, the rest $4.99.
App Store Google Play
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
Data: JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents