German · New Poems: The Other Part

Das Jüngste Gericht

The Last Judgement

14 lines · 15 notes

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1
So terrified as they were never terrified,
SoSoso · adverbdepends on erschrocken
erschrockenterrifiederschrecken · adjective (past participle), predicatepredicate adjective (subject outside this segment)
wieaswie · subordinating conjunctiondepends on erschraken
sietheysie · pronoun, nominative, pluraldepends on erschraken
nienevernie · adverbdepends on erschraken
erschrakenwere terrifiederschrecken · verb, past, indicative, third-person, pluralverb of the comparative clause introduced by wie
GrammarStrong verb erschrecken, intransitive Used intransitively, erschrecken, 'to be startled, take fright', is a strong verb: present erschrickt, past erschrak, plural erschraken, past participle erschrocken. The line uses both the participle erschrocken and the past erschraken of the same verb, comparing the terror now to any terror felt before.
2
without order, often riddled through and loose,
WordDurchlochen, to pierce with holes durchlocht is the past participle of durchlochen, 'to perforate, pierce full of holes'. This differs from durchlöchern, whose participle is durchlöchert. Paired with locker, 'loose, not firmly held together', it describes bodies gone porous and no longer intact.
3
they crouch in the burst-open ochre
GrammarBersten becomes geborsten geborstnen is the dative adjectival form of geborsten, the past participle of the strong verb bersten, 'to burst, split open'. The middle e is dropped for the meter, so geborstenen becomes geborstnen. The dative ending follows in dem, agreeing with Ocker, 'ochre'.
4
of their field, not from their shrouds
GrammarGenitive carried across a line Ackers is the genitive of der Acker, 'field, ploughland', and depends on Ocker in the line before: 'the burst-open ochre of their field'. German allows a genitive phrase to run across a line break this way. Laken here means 'sheet, shroud', the grave-cloths named in the next stanza.
5
to be parted, the ones they grew to love.
GrammarZu-infinitive of a separable verb abbringen von means 'to dissuade from, part from'. As a separable verb, its zu-infinitive splits the prefix from the stem: ab-zu-bringen. It depends on a governing verb outside this line, giving 'not to be parted' from the shrouds named in the stanza before.
WordLiebgewinnen, to grow fond of liebgewinnen, here in the past tense liebgewannen, means 'to grow fond of, come to love', describing an affection that builds over time rather than sudden love. die is a relative pronoun referring back to the grave-cloths, so it names what they grew to love.
6
But angels arrive, to drip oils
GrammarUm opens a purpose clause um introduces a purpose clause, 'in order to', whose verb, here einzuträufeln, is held to the end of the next line. Öle, plural of das Öl, 'oil', is its object, also suspended across the line break, a common German construction that delays the action.
7
into the dried-out sockets
WordPfanne as anatomical socket Pfanne usually means 'pan', but anatomically it names a socket or cavity, as in Augenpfanne, 'eye socket'. Here die Pfannen are the dried-out sockets the angels fill with oil. trocknen is trockenen with the middle e dropped for the meter.
8
and to lay in each one's armpit
GrammarDative of interest jedem is dative, 'to each one', marking who benefits from the action still to come. The verb legen and its object follow in the next stanza: 'to lay for each one, into the armpit'. Achselhöhle means 'armpit', literally 'armpit hollow'.
9
that which, in the din
GrammarCorrelative das with relative was das is the object being referred to, 'the thing', and was opens the relative clause that defines it, held to the next line: 'that which he did not profane'. German splits this pair across lines. in dem Lärme means 'in the din, the noise'.
10
of his life back then, he did not profane;
GrammarGenitive seines Lebens seines Lebens, 'of his life', is genitive and depends on Lärme from the line before: 'in the din of his life back then'. entweihen, 'to desecrate, profane', is the opposite of weihen, 'to consecrate', and closes the relative clause naming what was kept unprofaned.
11
for there it still holds a little warmth,
GrammarA word for because denn means 'for, because' and, unlike subordinating conjunctions, does not push the verb to the end of its clause, so normal order follows: hat es noch. dort means 'there'. The clause explains why the kept thing still holds a little warmth, Wärme.
12
so that it not chill the Lord's hand
GrammarSubjunctive in a purpose clause daß opens a purpose clause and sends its verb, erkälte, to the end. erkälte is present subjunctive, Konjunktiv I, of erkälten, 'to make cold, chill', expressing an intended result: 'so that it not chill'. des Herren Hand is genitive, 'the Lord's hand'.
13
above, when from every side he
GrammarWenn sends the verb to the end wenn, 'when', is a subordinating conjunction, so its verb, greift, is held to the end of the following line, after the object es and the phrase aus jeder Seite, 'from every side'. oben, 'above', marks where the action happens.
14
softly takes it, to feel whether it would count.
GrammarSubjunctive of gelten gälte is Konjunktiv II, past subjunctive, of gelten, 'to be valid, to count'. In the indirect question ob es gälte, 'whether it would count', the subjunctive marks a hypothetical test. greift, 'takes hold', finally completes the wenn-clause begun in the line before.

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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