German · New Poems

Das Portal

The Portal

44 lines · 41 notes

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1
There they remained, as though that flood had
DaThereda · adverbdepends on blieben
bliebenremainedbleiben · verb, past, indicative, third-person, pluralmain verb of the sentence
sietheysie · pronoun, nominative, pluraldepends on blieben
alsas thoughals · subordinating conjunctiondepends on wäre
wärehadsein · auxiliary verb, past, subjunctive, third-person, singularmain verb of the als-clause
jenethatjener · determiner, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on Flut
FlutfloodFlut · noun, nominative, feminine, singularsubject of wäre
GrammarSubjunctive after als als means 'as though' and introduces a comparison that is not real. wäre is the subjunctive II form of sein, 'to be', so the clause reads 'as though that flood had withdrawn'. After als the verb wäre moves right behind the conjunction instead of waiting until the end of the clause.
WordPointing to a distant flood die Flut means 'flood' or, more precisely, 'tide'. jene is the distal demonstrative for 'that', marking something further away than dieser would. It agrees with Flut in the nominative feminine singular, since Flut is the subject of wäre.
2
drawn back again, whose mighty surging
GrammarSeparable prefix stays attached zurücktreten is a separable verb meaning 'to step back, withdraw'. In the past participle zurückgetreten the prefix zurück- stays joined to getreten instead of splitting off. deren is the genitive form of the relative pronoun der, 'whose', pointing back to a noun before Branden.
3
washed at these stones, until they came to be;
WordVerb for coming into being entstehen means 'to arise, come into being, originate'. Its past form entstanden agrees with the plural sie, so bis sie entstanden means 'until they came to be'. The verb marks the moment the washing produced a finished result.
4
in ebbing it took many an attribute
GrammarInfinitive used as noun im Fallen turns the verb fallen, 'to fall', into a neuter noun Fallen and pairs it with the preposition in. It reads 'in the falling', here describing the tide as it ebbs away. manches Attribut uses the singular determiner manch, 'many a', to mean 'many an attribute' taken one at a time.
5
out of their hands, which are far too good
GrammarThe formal relative pronoun welche is a more literary alternative to die for 'which, that', here referring back to Händen. It stands in the nominative feminine plural, agreeing with Händen and acting as the subject of the clause it introduces.
6
and giving to keep hold of anything.
GrammarA clause of purpose um plus zu and an infinitive expresses purpose, so um dich zu sehen means 'in order to see you'. sehen is the main verb of that clause, with dich as its object. hingetragen, from hintragen, 'to carry toward a place', is a past participle used with a passive sense, 'borne along'.
7
They remained, set off from the forms in basalt
WordA poetic plural noun Basalt is basalt, a dark volcanic stone, normally used without a plural. Here in Basalten treats it as countable, giving 'in basalts' or 'in basalt forms'. The dative plural ending -en follows Steinen and Formen earlier in the sentence, which are also dative plural.
8
by a nimbus, by a bishop's mitre,
WordHalo and bishop's hat der Nimbus is the halo that rings a holy figure's head. der Bischofshut, literally 'bishop's hat', names the bishop's mitre. Both nouns are accusative here because durch, 'by, through', governs the accusative case.
9
at times by a smile set apart,
GrammarPast participle held back unterscheiden means 'to distinguish, tell apart', so durch ein Lächeln unterschieden is 'set apart by a smile'. The participle unterschieden depends on blieben and completes a clause that began several lines earlier. bisweilen means 'at times, now and then'.
10
for which a face has kept the peace of its hours
WordAn elevated word for face Antlitz is an elevated, poetic word for 'face, countenance'; everyday German uses Gesicht instead. Seiner Stunden is a genitive plural meaning 'of its hours', placed before the noun Frieden that it modifies. This word order puts the genitive phrase ahead of the noun it depends on.
11
as a quiet clock-face;
WordA compound noun for clock-face Zifferblatt names a clock or watch face, built from Ziffer, 'numeral', and Blatt, 'leaf, plate'. It is accusative singular after als, 'as', following the pattern als plus a noun phrase. bewahren, 'to preserve, keep safe', supplies the participle bewahrt that goes with hat.
12
now pushed forward into the void of their gate,
WordSeparable verb as participle fortrücken, 'to move forward, to shift away', is a separable verb, and its past participle fortgerückt keeps the prefix attached. Here it works as a participial phrase meaning 'now moved forward'. ins Leere combines in and das Leere, 'the void', and ihres Tores is a genitive meaning 'of their gate'.
13
once they were the shell of an ear
WordThe shell of an ear die Muschel means 'shell', both a seashell and the curved hollow of the outer ear. eines Ohres is genitive, 'of an ear', and depends on Muschel. einst means 'once, formerly', marking a past state that no longer holds.
14
and caught every groan of this city.
GrammarSimple past of fangen fingen is the simple past, third person plural, of fangen, 'to catch'. Jedes Stöhnen means 'every groan', with Stöhnen a noun made from the verb stöhnen, 'to groan'. Dieser Stadt is genitive, 'of this city', and it depends on Stöhnen.
15
II
16
A great deal of vastness is meant by it:
GrammarPassive with sein plus participle meinen means 'to intend, to signify', and its passive is formed with sein plus the participle gemeint, 'to be meant'. damit fuses da- and mit into one word meaning 'by it, by that'. So ist gemeint damit reads 'is meant by it'.
17
just as, with the flats of a stage-set,
WordTheatre flats and scene die Kulissen are the painted side flats and wings of a theatre set, the panels arranged at the edges of a stage. eine Szene is 'a scene'. Kulissen is dative here because it follows mit, and Szene is genitive because it depends on Kulissen.
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the world is meant; and just as through them
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the hero steps in the cloak of his action:—
GrammarStrong verb, stem change treten, 'to step, stride', is a strong verb whose stem vowel changes in the third person singular present, giving er tritt rather than a regular form. Here tritt is the main verb of the sentence, with Held as its subject.
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so the darkness of this gate steps acting
GrammarPresent participle used adverbially handelnd is the present participle of handeln, 'to act', used here as an adverb meaning 'acting, in the act'. It describes how the subject tritt, 'steps', rather than modifying a noun. The participle depends directly on the verb tritt.
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onto the tragic theatre of its depth,
GrammarA genitive phrase wraps the object seiner Tiefe is genitive, 'of its depth', and it sits inside the noun phrase tragisches Theater rather than after it. Read together the sense is 'tragic theatre of its depth'. tragisches carries accusative neuter singular endings to agree with Theater.
22
as boundless and surging as God the Father,
WordBoundless and surging grenzenlos means 'boundless, without limit', built from Grenze, 'border', plus the negating suffix -los. wallend, from wallen, means 'surging, billowing, flowing', often used of water, robes, or crowds. Both words describe Gott-Vater, 'God the Father', in this comparison introduced by wie, 'as'.
23
and just as He, strangely transforming Himself
GrammarReflexive, as participle sich verwandeln means 'to transform, to change oneself'; verwandelnd is its present participle, 'transforming himself'. wunderlich means 'strange, curious'. sich depends on verwandelnd as its reflexive object, and verwandelnd itself depends on Er as its subject.
24
into a Son who here is parcelled out
GrammarSeparable verb forms a passive aufteilen means 'to divide up, parcel out' and is a separable verb. aufgeteilt ist is the present passive, 'is divided up', formed from the participle aufgeteilt and the auxiliary ist. Der is the relative pronoun 'who', the subject of ist in its own clause.
25
among many small, almost mute roles,
WordCompound noun for silent parts stumm means 'mute, silent, dumb', and eine Rolle is a theatrical 'role, part'. Together stumme Rollen names non-speaking walk-on parts. Both words carry accusative feminine plural endings, agreeing with viele and kleine in the same phrase.
26
taken from misery's stock of properties.
WordGenitive placed before noun das Elend means 'misery, wretchedness'. das Zubehör means 'accessories, fittings, stock of properties', a term used for stage properties in theatre. des Elends is a genitive placed before its noun, so des Elends Zubehör reads 'misery's stock of properties' rather than the usual order after the noun.
27
For only thus does there arise (this we know)
GrammarCoordinating conjunction 'for' denn means 'for, because' and is a coordinating conjunction, so it does not push the verb to the end of the clause. entsteht, from entstehen, 'to arise, come into being', keeps its normal second position even though the parenthetical das wissen wir is inserted. nur noch so means 'only in this way now'.
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out of the blind, the cast-off and the mad
WordAdjectives used as nouns Blinden, Fortgeworfenen, and Tollen are adjectives used as nouns, each in the dative plural after the preposition aus. Blind gives 'the blind', fortgeworfen, from fortwerfen, 'to throw away', gives 'the cast off', and toll gives 'the mad'. All three depend on the same preposition, joined by und.
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the Saviour, like a single actor.
30
III
31
So they tower, their hearts held still
WordVerb for towering upward ragen means 'to tower, loom, jut up', and here it is present tense third person plural, agreeing with sie. die Herzen angehalten is a participial phrase with no finite verb, 'their hearts held still', added onto the main clause. angehalten is the past participle of anhalten, 'to stop, hold'.
32
(they stand for eternity and never walked);
GrammarFor eternity, never walked auf Ewigkeit means 'for eternity, forever'. stehn is the poetic short form of stehen, 'to stand', dropping the e. gingen is the past tense of gehen, 'to go, to walk', so gingen nie means 'never walked', describing figures that have only ever stood still.
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only seldom does there step from the fall of folds
WordThe fall of the folds das Gefäll means 'slope, downward fall'; die Falten are 'folds, pleats'. aus dem Gefäll der Falten means 'from the fall of the folds', with Gefäll depending on aus and Falten in the genitive depending on Gefäll. nur selten, 'only seldom', fronts the clause, placing the adverb before the verb tritt.
34
a gesture, upright, sheer as they are,
WordA word for gesture Gebärde is a feminine noun meaning 'gesture', a movement of the body. Aufrecht, 'upright', and steil, 'sheer, steep', are adverbs describing that gesture. Wie sie means 'as they', comparing the gesture to figures named earlier in the sentence.
35
and stops short after half a step,
GrammarA separable verb splits apart stehenbleiben, 'to stop, come to a standstill', is a separable verb. In this clause it splits into bleibt, the finite verb, and stehn, a short form of stehen, which moves to the end of the clause. nach einem halben Schritte, 'after half a step', uses Schritte, an older dative form of Schritt.
36
where the centuries overtake it.
WordInseparable verb with über überholen means 'to overtake, to pass, to outstrip'. die Jahrhunderte means 'the centuries', the subject of the verb. Unlike separable verbs, überholen is inseparable, so its prefix über stays attached to the verb in every form.
37
They are in balance upon the corbels,
WordBalance and corbels das Gleichgewicht means 'balance, equilibrium', literally 'equal weight'. die Konsolen are 'corbels', the stone brackets that project from a wall to carry a figure. sind is the main verb, and the two prepositional phrases, im Gleichgewicht and auf den Konsolen, both describe where the figures stand.
38
in which a world that they do not see,
GrammarDative relative pronoun after in denen is the relative pronoun der in the dative plural, used here after the preposition in to mean 'in which'. It refers back to a plural noun mentioned earlier in the sentence. Die sie nicht sehn is a relative clause meaning 'that they do not see', with sehn a shortened form of sehen.
39
the world of turmoil, which they did not trample,
WordA noun and its matching verb die Wirrnis means 'confusion, tangle, turmoil', built from the adjective wirr, 'tangled, confused'. zertreten means 'to trample, crush underfoot', and zertraten is its simple past, third person plural, agreeing with sie. die Welt der Wirrnis, die sie nicht zertraten reads 'the world of turmoil, which they did not trample'.
40
figure and beast, as if to endanger them,
GrammarPurpose clause with um zu um plus zu and an infinitive expresses purpose, so um sie zu gefährden means 'in order to endanger them'. gefährden means 'to endanger, to imperil', built from Gefahr, 'danger'. wie before um adds the sense 'as though', making the purpose only apparent rather than certain.
41
writhes and shakes, and yet upholds them:
GrammarTwo reflexive verbs, one pronoun sich krümmen means 'to writhe, to bend'; sich schütteln means 'to shake oneself'. The two verbs share the single reflexive pronoun sich. dennoch means 'nevertheless, yet', and hält, from halten, 'to hold up', takes sie as its object.
42
because the figures there, like acrobats,
GrammarBecause sends the verb last weil, 'because', is a subordinating conjunction, so it pushes the finite verb of its clause to the very end. Here that verb, gebärden, does not appear until a later line. Die Gestalten means 'the figures', and wie Akrobaten means 'like acrobats'.
43
behave so twitching and so wild only
GrammarA reflexive verb for behaving sich gebärden means 'to behave, carry on, gesticulate' and always takes the reflexive pronoun sich. zuckend, 'twitching', and wild, 'wild', both describe how the subject behaves. nur so points forward, meaning 'only in this way', and sets up a purpose that follows later in the sentence.
44
so that the staff upon their brow does not fall.
GrammarPurpose clause with damit damit means 'so that, in order that' and introduces a purpose clause, which sends the finite verb fällt to the very end. der Stab means 'a staff, a rod', and die Stirn means 'the brow, the forehead'. The clause reads 'so that the staff upon their brow does not fall'.

The particulars

The text: Neue Gedichte, Rainer Maria Rilke. New Poems.
Reading aloud: Digital narration, directed by 1732 Studios.
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