German · New Poems: The Other Part

Corrida

Bullfight

26 lines · 27 notes

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1
Since he, almost small, out of the toril
SeitSinceseit · subordinating conjunctionhead of the phrase
erheer · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on Seit
kleinsmallklein · adjective, predicativedepends on er
beinahalmostbeinah · adverbdepends on klein
ausout ofaus · prepositiondepends on ausbrach
demtheder · determiner, dative, masculine, singulardepends on Toril
ToriltorilToril · noun, dative, masculine, singulardepends on aus
'Toril': the pen where a bull is held before entering the bullring.
WordThe pen before the ring Toril is a Spanish loanword Rilke leaves untranslated, naming the pen beside the arena where a bull is held before release into the ring. It is capitalized only because German capitalizes every noun, not for special stress.
GrammarSince opens a delayed clause seit, 'since, ever since', introduces a time clause. Here it governs ausbrach, 'broke out', in the simple past. The main clause verb, ist angewachsen, 'has grown', does not appear until the next stanza.
2
broke out, with startled eye and ear,
GrammarA separable verb ausbrechen, 'to break out, burst forth', is separable: the prefix aus- detaches in main clauses. Here, inside the seit-clause, it appears as brach ... aus, split across the line break as aus dem Toril / ausbrach.
GrammarGenitive of manner aufgescheuchten Augs und Ohrs is an adverbial genitive meaning 'with startled eye and ear'. Augs and Ohrs are old shortened genitive singulars of Auge and Ohr. The phrase describes how the bull bursts from the pen, senses jolted into alarm.
3
and the obstinacy of the picador
WordOwn-sense, stubbornness Eigensinn is literally 'own-sense': stubbornness, willful self-insistence. It names a trait of the Picador, the mounted lancer, describing his dogged goading of the bull rather than any malice.
4
and the ribboned barbs as if in play
WordA coined compound Bänderhaken is a coined compound of Bänder, 'ribbons, streamers', and Haken, 'hooks, barbs': the beribboned banderillas driven into the bull's neck. wie im Spiel means 'as in play', naming the early passes of the fight.
5
took upon himself, the storming shape has
GrammarPast of hinnehmen hinnahm is the past of the separable verb hinnehmen, 'to put up with, to take upon oneself'. It is the long delayed verb that closes the clause begun in line one: the bull took the picador's goading and the barbs before the main clause ist angewachsen opens.
6
swollen–look: into what a mass,
GrammarThe delayed main verb The main verb finally appears: anwachsen, 'to swell, grow up', in the present perfect ist angewachsen, 'has grown'. The imperative sieh, 'look', breaks in mid line, joined to angewachsen by a dash in the source text, opening a separate command to the reader.
7
heaped up out of old black hatred,
GrammarDative after aus aus, 'out of', governs the dative; Hasse is the older dative form of Hass, 'hatred'. aufgehäuft aus altem schwarzen Hasse means 'heaped up out of old black hatred', describing what the bull's mass is made from.
8
and the head clenched into a fist,
WordClenched into a fist ballen means to clench or knot together, as one clenches a fist in die Faust ballen. Here the bull's lowered Haupt, 'head', is clenched into a fist, comparing the animal's whole bearing to a raised weapon.
9
no longer playing against just anyone,
10
no: hoisting the bloody barbs in his neck
WordHoisting like a flag hissen means to hoist or run up, as one hoists a flag in die Flagge hissen. The present participle hissend turns the Nackenhaken, the barbs lodged in the bull's neck, into banners he raises as he moves.
11
behind the lowered horns, knowing
WordLowered, like a felled tree fällen means to fell or bring down, as a tree or a lance. As the past participle gefällten, modifying Hörnern, it gives 'the lowered horns', dropped and aimed forward to charge.
12
and from all eternity, against the one
GrammarAn old frame for origin The frame von ... her expresses origin in time or place; von Ewigkeit her means 'from eternity onward, from time immemorial'. It marks the bull's enmity as fixed before this fight, aimed at the single man named next by den.
13
who, in gold and mauve rose-silk,
WordDative ending on a color word Rosaseide means 'rose colored silk'; mauv, from French mauve, tints it toward pale violet. The dative ending -er on mauver follows the preposition in, describing the matador's costume of gold and silk.
14
suddenly turns, and, like a swarm
GrammarA separable verb umkehren, 'to turn round, turn back', is separable; in this relative clause the prefix stays attached, giving der ... plötzlich umkehrt, 'who suddenly turns'. This pivot is the main verb of the clause describing the matador's move.
15
of bees, and as if he were only suffering it,
Grammarals ob takes the subjunctive als ob, 'as though', takes the subjunctive: leide is the present subjunctive of leiden, 'to suffer, endure'. als ob er's eben leide means 'as though he were merely enduring it', with er's contracting er es, 'he it'.
16
lets the dismayed one pass beneath his arm,
WordAn adjective used as a noun bestürzt means stunned, dismayed, taken aback; used as a noun, den Bestürzten, accusative, means 'the dismayed one', referring to the bull. The word is the grammatical object of durchläßt, the verb that opens the next stanza.
17
lets through,–while his glances, hot,
GrammarTo let through durchläßt, modern durchlässt, is the separable verb durchlassen, 'to let through, let pass'. It supplies the verb the long relative clause has been building toward: the matador lets the bull pass under his arm. während, 'while', fuses onto this word and opens the next clause.
18
lift once more, lightly guided,
GrammarA reflexive verb sich heben, 'to rise, lift', is reflexive; its subject is seine Blicke, 'his glances', which sich noch einmal heben, 'lift once more'. leichtgelenkt, 'lightly guided', is a Rilke compound describing how that lift is controlled.
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and as though out there that ring were striking
GrammarWhen als stands alone When als, 'as though', appears without ob, the verb moves directly after it in the subjunctive: als schlüge ... jener Kreis means 'as though that ring were striking'. schlüge is the past subjunctive of schlagen, continued by the separable prefix nieder in the next line.
20
itself down out of their glitter and dark
GrammarA separated prefix returns The separated prefix nieder, 'down', belongs to schlagen from the line above: schlüge sich ... nieder means 'were beating itself down, settling down'. The full verb is niederschlagen, 'to beat down, to precipitate'.
21
and out of every beating of his lids,
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before he, even-tempered, without hatred,
GrammarBefore, holding the verb to the end ehe, 'before', opens the poem's final subordinate clause, so its verb falls to the very end: ehe er ... versenkt means 'before he sinks'. Everyday German would instead use bevor.
WordUn- negates a word for spite ungehässig means 'without rancor, free of hatred'; the un- negates gehässig, 'spiteful, full of hate'. It pairs with gleichmütig, 'even tempered', to describe how the man delivers the final blow.
23
leaning on himself, calm, at ease,
WordTwo words from lassen gelassen and lässig both come from lassen, 'to let': gelassen means 'calm, composed' and lässig means 'casual, nonchalant'. Paired with an sich selbst gelehnt, 'leaning on himself', they describe the matador's bearing at the kill.
24
into the great wave rolled back again,
WordA dense compound, rolled back wiederhergerollt is built from wieder, 'again', her, marking motion toward here, and gerollt, 'rolled': 'rolled back here again'. The adjective describes Woge, 'wave', in the next line.
25
above the squandered thrust,
WordA wasted thrust Stoß means a thrust or charge; verloren, here spelled verlorn, means 'lost, wasted'. über dem verlornen Stoße, dative after über, names the bull's failed lunge, the charge that found only empty air.
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sinks his sword almost gently.
GrammarThe final verb, held to the end versenkt, 'sinks, plunges', is the sentence's main verb, held back by ehe until the poem's last word: seinen Degen ... versenkt means 'sinks his sword'. beinah sanft, 'nearly gently', modifies versenkt adverbially.

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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