German · New Poems

Das Karussell

The Carousel

27 lines · 26 notes

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

1
With a roof and with its shadow turns
Mitwithmit · prepositiondepends on dreht
einemaein · determiner, dative, neuter, singulardepends on Dach
DachroofDach · noun, dative, neuter, singulardepends on Mit
undandund · conjunctionlinks the coordination
seinemitssein · determiner, dative, masculine, singulardepends on Schatten
SchattenshadowSchatten · noun, dative, masculine, singulardepends on und
drehtturnsdrehen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
Grammardreht awaits its subject dreht is present tense, third-person singular, of drehen, 'to turn'. Its subject does not appear in this line; it follows later in the sentence, after the prepositional phrases mit einem Dach und seinem Schatten.
2
for a little while the company
WordBestand, a standing company der Bestand can mean 'stock' or 'holding', or here 'a standing company' or 'set', the assembled group of carousel horses. der Bestand is nominative, the subject of the verb that follows.
3
of bright-colored horses, all from the land
WordAn adjective for many colors bunt means 'brightly colored, particolored', or 'multicolored'. von bunten Pferden, 'of bright colored horses', takes the dative plural after von, 'of'.
4
that long hesitates before it goes under.
Grammareh meaning before eh is a shortened, poetic form of ehe, 'before', a subordinating conjunction that sends the verb to the end of its clause. eh es untergeht means 'before it goes under', with untergeht, from untergehen, at the clause's end.
5
True, some are harnessed to little wagons,
GrammarTwo adverbs make a concession zwar, 'true' or 'admittedly', opens a concession, and doch, 'yet', answers it in the following clause. Zwar manche … doch alle means 'true, some … yet all', granting one point before contradicting it.
6
yet all of them have courage in their faces;
WordA word for facial expression die Miene means 'facial expression' or 'look', not the English word mien in its narrower sense. in ihren Mienen, 'in their faces', is dative plural after in, 'in'.
7
an angry red lion goes along with them
WordAn adjective for angry or fierce böse means 'angry, fierce', or 'wicked' depending on context. ein böser roter Löwe, 'an angry red lion', strings both adjectives before the noun with the strong nominative ending -er.
8
and now and then a white elephant.
WordA fixed phrase for now and then dann und wann is a fixed phrase meaning 'now and then, occasionally'. It functions as a single adverbial unit modifying the whole clause that follows.
9
Even a stag is there, just as in the forest,
WordHirsch, a stag der Hirsch means 'stag' or 'male deer'. Sogar ein Hirsch, 'even a stag', uses sogar, 'even', to add this animal to the list of carousel figures.
10
except that it bears a saddle, and above it
GrammarA phrase for except that nur daß means 'except that' or 'only that', introducing a small qualification. daß is a subordinating conjunction, so the finite verb trägt, 'bears', is held toward the end of its clause.
11
a little girl in blue is strapped.
Grammaraufschnallen, past participle aufschnallen means 'to strap on' or 'buckle on'. aufgeschnallt is its past participle, used adjectivally after Mädchen: 'strapped on', describing how the little girl is fastened to her mount.
12
And on the lion, dressed in white, rides a boy
Grammarweiß as a predicate adjective reitet weiß places the adjective weiß, 'white', right after the verb reitet, 'rides', describing the rider rather than modifying a noun directly. It functions like 'dressed in white', and takes no case ending because predicate adjectives in German do not decline.
13
and holds on with his small hot hand,
GrammarA reflexive verb for holding on sich halten means 'to hold oneself steady, to hold on'. hält sich mit der kleinen heißen Hand, 'holds on with his small hot hand', uses mit plus the dative for the instrument.
14
while the lion shows its teeth and tongue.
WordAn old word for while dieweil is an older, literary subordinating conjunction meaning 'while' or 'whereas', largely replaced in modern German by während. It sends the finite verb zeigt, 'shows', to the end of its clause.
15
And now and then a white elephant.
GrammarA repeated line returns This line repeats the earlier Und dann und wann ein weißer Elefant word for word, functioning as a refrain. The grammar is identical to its first appearance: dann und wann is the fixed phrase 'now and then'.
16
And on the horses they come riding past,
GrammarSeparable verb vorüberkommen vorüberkommen, 'to come past', is separable. Its prefix vorüber sits at the end of the clause while the conjugated stem kommen carries the verb's person and number: kommen … sie vorüber, 'they come past'.
17
girls too, fair ones, this leaping of horses
GrammarA compound noun in the dative Pferdesprung joins Pferd, 'horse', and Sprung, 'leap', into one noun, dative singular here after an implied verb of accompaniment. diesem Pferdesprunge carries the older dative ending -e.
18
almost already outgrown; mid-swing
WordA verb for outgrowing something entwachsen means 'to grow out of' or 'outgrow something', from wachsen, 'to grow', with the prefix ent-, 'away from'. fast schon entwachsen, schon meaning 'already', describes children who have nearly outgrown the ride.
19
they look up, off somewhere, over this way—
WordA direction word for toward here herüber is a direction adverb meaning 'over to here', marking motion from a distance toward the speaker's side. irgendwohin, herüber pairs it with irgendwohin, 'off somewhere', contrasting an unfixed direction with one aimed at the viewer.
20
And now and then a white elephant.
21
And on it goes and hurries to be done,
Grammareilen used reflexively eilen, 'to hurry', is used here reflexively, sich eilen, 'to hurry oneself'. daß es endet, 'that it ends', is the object clause explaining what the hurrying is toward.
22
and circles and just turns and turns, with no goal.
WordKein negates the noun kein negates the noun that follows, so kein Ziel means 'no goal' or 'no destination', rather than 'not a goal'. It takes the accusative here as the object of hat, 'has'.
23
A red, a green, a gray sent flashing past,
Grammarvorbeisenden, past participle vorbeisenden means 'to send past' or 'flash past', from vorbei, 'past', and senden, 'to send'. vorbeigesendet is its past participle, describing the colors as having been sent flashing by.
24
a small, scarcely begun profile.
Grammarbegonnen as an adjective begonnenes is the past participle of beginnen, 'to begin', used here as an adjective before Profil. kaum begonnenes Profil means 'a profile scarcely begun', barely sketched in.
25
And many a time a smile, turned this way,
Wordherwenden, to turn this way herwenden means 'to turn toward the speaker's side', combining her, 'hither', with wenden, 'to turn'. hergewendet is its past participle, describing a smile turned this way as it passes.
26
a blissful one, that dazzles and is squandered
WordAn adjective for blissful selig means 'blissful' or 'blessed', often describing a state of deep, untroubled happiness. ein seliges is the neuter adjective used as a noun, 'a blissful one', continuing the description of the smile from the line before.
27
on this breathless, blind game.
Grammarverschwenden an, to squander on verschwenden means 'to waste' or 'squander', and here it governs an plus the accusative: an dieses atemlose blinde Spiel, 'on this breathless blind game'. dieses, atemlose, and blinde all carry the accusative neuter ending agreeing with Spiel.

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