German · New Poems: The Other Part

Das Kind

The Child

12 lines · 12 notes

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1
Unwittingly they watch its play
Unwillkürlichunwittinglyunwillkürlich · adverbdepends on sehn
sehnwatchzusehen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, pluralmain verb of the sentence
Separable verb 'zusehen' (to watch, look on) — its prefix 'zu' appears split off at the start of the next line.
sietheysie · pronoun, nominative, pluralsubject of sehn
seinemitssein · determiner, dative, neuter, singulardepends on Spiel
SpielplaySpiel · noun, dative, neuter, singulardepends on sehn
GrammarSeparable verb split by the line sehn is short for zusehen, 'to watch, to look on', a separable verb whose prefix zu is split off and appears at the start of the next line. zusehen takes a dative object: seinem Spiel, 'its play'.
2
a long while; at times the round
WordStranded prefix from the line before This zu is the separable prefix of zusehen, 'to watch', carried over by the line break from sehn in the line before. zuweilen tritt, 'at times steps', begins the next clause with a different verb, treten.
3
existing face steps out of the profile,
WordPresent participle of to be seiende is the present participle of sein, 'to be', used as an adjective meaning 'existing, being'. das runde seiende Gesicht means 'the round, existing face', naming a face simply by the fact that it exists.
4
clear and whole like a full hour,
WordAdjective agreeing with hour volle is the adjective voll, 'full', agreeing with the feminine noun Stunde, 'hour'. wie eine volle Stunde means 'like a full hour', a complete unit of time.
5
which lifts and strikes itself to its end.
GrammarPresent tense, begins and strikes anhebt is the present tense, third-person singular, of anheben, 'to lift, to begin, to strike up'. welche anhebt und zu Ende schlägt means 'which begins and strikes itself to its end', a single continuous stretch of time.
6
Yet the others do not count the strokes,
WordPlural noun for clock strokes Schläge is the accusative plural of Schlag, 'stroke, blow', here the strokes of a clock. Doch die andern zählen nicht die Schläge means 'yet the others do not count the strokes'.
7
dulled by toil and sluggish with living,
WordTwo predicate adjectives, dulled and sluggish trüb and träge are predicate adjectives meaning 'dulled, dim' and 'sluggish, listless'. trüb von Mühsal und vom Leben träge means 'dulled by toil and sluggish with living', both describing the same unstated subject.
8
and they do not notice at all how it bears–;
GrammarIndirect question after noticing wie es trägt means 'how it bears', with wie introducing an indirect question after merken, 'to notice'. gar nicht strengthens the negation nicht, 'not at all'.
9
how it bears everything, even then, still even now,
WordFixed phrase, still even now noch immer is a fixed phrase meaning 'still, even now', combining noch, 'still', with immer, 'always'. wie es alles trägt, auch dann, noch immer means 'how it bears everything, even then, still even now'.
10
when, tired, in its little dress
GrammarTemporal clause delays the verb wenn, 'when', introduces a subordinate clause, so its verb sitzt is delayed to the end of the sentence, appearing two lines later. wenn es müde in dem kleinen Kleid means 'when, tired, in its little dress'.
11
beside them as in a waiting room
WordComparing the scene to waiting Wartezimmer means 'waiting room', combining warten, 'to wait', with Zimmer, 'room'. wie im Wartezimmer means 'as in a waiting room', comparing the scene to sitting and waiting there.
12
sits and means to wait for its own time.
GrammarVerb plus preposition, accusative object warten auf means 'to wait for'; auf here takes the accusative, seine Zeit, 'its own time'. warten will combines wollen, 'to want, to mean to', with the infinitive warten, 'to wait': 'means to wait'.

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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