German · New Poems: The Other Part

Damen-Bildnis aus den achtziger Jahren

Portrait of a Lady from the Eighteen-Eighties

25 lines · 26 notes

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1
Waiting, she stood against the heavily gathered
WartendWaitingwarten · verb, participledepends on stand
standstoodstehen · verb, past, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
sieshesie · pronoun, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on stand
anagainstan · prepositiondepends on stand
dentheder · determiner, dative, feminine, pluraldepends on Atlasdraperien
schwergerafftenheavily gatheredschwergerafft · adjective, dative, feminine, pluraldepends on Atlasdraperien
WordCoined compound adjective schwergerafft is a compound past participle Rilke builds from schwer, 'heavy', and raffen, 'to gather up, bunch'. Used as an adjective on Draperien, 'draperies', it means 'heavily gathered up'.
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dark satin draperies,
WordFalse friend for a fabric Atlas here means 'satin', the fabric, not the Titan or a book of maps. Atlasdraperien are 'satin draperies'. German compounds nouns freely, so Atlas and Draperien fuse into one word.
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which a display of false passions
WordNoun for staged excess der Aufwand means 'expenditure, display, lavishness', effort or money spent for show. ein Aufwand falscher Leidenschaften is 'a display of false passions'.
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seemed to be massing above her;
GrammarVerb governs a zu-infinitive scheinen, 'to seem', governs a zu-infinitive: zu ballen schien, 'seemed to mass, clench together'. The subject is ein Aufwand from the line before, so the clause reads 'a display of false passions that seemed to mass above her'.
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since the girlhood years still so near,
GrammarPreposition seit takes the dative The preposition seit, 'since, for', always governs the dative. seit den ... Mädchenjahren is dative plural, 'since the girlhood years'. noch so nahen, 'still so near', modifies Mädchenjahren.
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as if swapped for another woman:
WordVerb for swapping one thing vertauschen means 'to swap, exchange, mix up'. mit einer anderen vertauscht is 'exchanged for another woman'; einer anderen is feminine dative after mit. wie, 'as though', makes the phrase a comparison.
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weary beneath the piled-up hair,
WordPast participle from a tower getürmt is the past participle of türmen, 'to pile up, tower', from der Turm, 'tower'. die getürmten Haare names hair piled high in the 1880s style; the dative plural is den getürmten Haaren.
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unpracticed in the ruffled gowns
WordCompound noun for a gown die Rüsche is 'ruffle, frill'; die Robe is 'gown, robe'. Ruschen-Roben are 'ruffled gowns'. unerfahren, 'inexperienced, unpracticed', describes her relation to them.
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and as if eavesdropped on by every fold,
WordVerb for covert listening belauschen means 'to eavesdrop on, spy on, listen in on'. von allen Falten wie belauscht is 'as though eavesdropped on by every fold'; von marks the agent of the passive-like wie belauscht.
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in her homesickness and her faint planning
WordCompound noun for longing das Heimweh is 'homesickness', literally 'home-ache'. bei dem Heimweh means 'amid, during her homesickness'. schwachen Planen is 'faint planning', paired with it by und.
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of how life is meant to go on:
GrammarModal for expectation sollen here expresses expectation or intention, 'is supposed to, meant to'. wie das Leben weiter werden soll is 'how life is meant to go on'. weiter, 'onward, further', pairs with werden, 'to become'.
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different, more real, as in novels,
WordFalse friend for novel der Roman means 'a novel', not 'romance' in the modern English sense, so it is a false friend. wie in Romanen is 'as in novels'. anders, wirklicher means 'different, more real'.
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rapturous and fateful,—
WordAdjective for fateful verhängnisvoll is built from das Verhängnis, 'doom, fate, calamity', plus -voll, 'full of': 'fateful, disastrous'. It pairs with hingerissen, 'enraptured, swept away'.
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that one might first lay something in the caskets
GrammarSubordinate clause opens a long wish daß, older spelling of the modern dass, opens a subordinate clause that runs across several stanzas, governed by dürfte, 'might be allowed to', below. man is the impersonal 'one'.
WordNoun for a small box die Schatulle is a small ornamental box or casket for jewels and keepsakes. in die Schatullen legen uses the accusative after in to mark motion into them, placing something inside.
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and so might steep oneself in the scent
GrammarPurpose clause with um zu um here opens an um ... zu purpose clause, 'in order to', that closes with einzulullen two lines later. dürfte is the Konjunktiv II of dürfen, 'might be allowed to'.
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of memories;
GrammarSeparable verb with zu inserted einlullen, 'to lull to sleep, soothe', is separable. In a zu-infinitive, zu slots between prefix and stem: ein-zu-lullen. With sich it means 'to lull oneself', here in the scent of memories.
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that one might at last find in the diary
WordCompound noun for a journal das Tagebuch is 'diary, journal', literally 'day-book'. daß man endlich in dem Tagebuch continues the daß-wish from earlier stanzas: 'that one might at last, in the diary'. in dem Tagebuch is dative after in.
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a beginning that did not already,
GrammarSubjunctive continues the wish fände is the past subjunctive of finden, 'to find', carrying the unreal, wishful mood of the passage: 'that one might find'. einen Anfang, 'a beginning', is its accusative object.
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in the writing, turn meaningless and a lie,
GrammarContraction plus nominalized infinitive unterm contracts unter dem. With the nominalized infinitive das Schreiben, 'writing', unterm Schreiben means 'in the course of writing, while one writes'.
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and that would carry a petal of a rose
WordNoun with two meanings das Blatt means 'leaf', and of a flower, 'petal'; ein Blatt von einer Rose is 'a petal of a rose'. The same word can also mean a sheet or 'page'.
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in the heavy empty locket,
WordFrench loanword for a locket das Medaillon is a loanword from French for a 'locket', the small hinged pendant holding a portrait or keepsake. It is described as schwer, 'heavy', and leer, 'empty'.
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which lies on every breath she draws.
WordCompound noun for one breath der Atemzug is 'a breath, an intake of breath', from Atem, 'breath', and Zug, 'draw, pull'. auf jedem Atemzug means 'on every breath'.
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That one might once wave through the window
GrammarSubjunctive resumes the wish winkte is the simple past of winken, 'to wave, beckon', read here in the unreal wishful sense the passage sustains: 'that one might once wave'. durch das Fenster means 'through the window'.
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this slender hand, the newly ringed one,
WordCoined compound for a new ring neuberingte fuses neu, 'newly', with beringt, the past participle of beringen, 'to put a ring on': 'newly be-ringed'. It modifies Hand, 'hand'.
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would have, in that, enough for months.
GrammarSubjunctive closes the wish hätte is the past subjunctive of haben, closing the wish clause: 'would have'. dran is colloquial for daran, 'at it, by that'; the phrase means 'would have enough in that for months'.

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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