German · New Poems: The Other Part

Der Alchimist

The Alchemist

14 lines · 23 notes

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1
Strangely half-smiling, the laboratory worker pushed
Seltsamstrangelyseltsam · adverbdepends on verlächelnd
verlächelndhalf-smilingverlächeln · adverbdepends on schob
schobpushedschieben · verb, past, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
dertheder · determiner, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on Laborant
Laborantlaboratory workerLaborant · noun, nominative, masculine, singularsubject of schob
WordA coined verb for smiling verlächeln is not a standard German verb. Rilke builds it from lächeln, 'to smile', with the prefix ver-, which often marks something fading or going slightly wrong. verlächelnd is a present participle depending on schob, describing how the laboratory worker pushed the flask, seltsam verlächelnd, 'strangely half-smiling'.
WordLaborant names a job, not a title der Laborant is a laboratory worker, an assistant handling equipment and chemicals, here the nominative subject of schob. The poem's alchemist is introduced by this ordinary job title rather than by any grander word for his ambition.
2
the flask away, which, half-calmed, still smoked.
WordKolben and a split prefix der Kolben is the round-bottomed glass flask of a laboratory. schob den Kolben fort is 'pushed the flask away'; the separable prefix fort of fortschieben, 'to push away', is carried onto the previous line, with Kolben, its accusative object, appearing here. halbberuhigt, 'half-calmed', is a participle modifying der, 'which', referring to the flask.
3
He knew now what he still needed,
GrammarSimple past of wissen wußte is the simple past (Präteritum) of the irregular verb wissen, 'to know a fact'. German spelling before the 1996 reform wrote it with ß; current spelling has wusste. The same older ß appears later in Bewußtsein and elsewhere in this poem.
4
so that the most illustrious object
GrammarOpening a purpose clause damit introduces a subordinate clause of purpose, 'so that, in order that', and sends its finite verb to the clause's end. That verb, entstände, does not appear until the next stanza, so the clause damit der ... Gegenstand runs across the stanza break before completing.
WordA lofty, formal adjective erlaucht means 'illustrious, exalted, noble', a formal word once used as a title of address for high-born persons. It modifies Gegenstand, 'object', in the nominative, describing the thing the alchemist hoped to produce as something of near-sacred rank.
5
might arise in there. He needed ages.
GrammarSubjunctive of entstehen entstände is Konjunktiv II, the subjunctive, of entstehen, 'to come into being, to arise'. It completes the purpose clause opened by damit two lines earlier, giving the meaning 'so that it might arise'. The subjunctive marks the alchemist's goal as never realized.
6
Millennia for himself and this glass pear,
WordA transparent compound noun das Jahrtausend, plural Jahrtausende, means 'millennium', built from Jahr, 'year', and tausend, 'thousand'. It is the accusative object of brauchte, 'needed', expanding on Zeiten, 'ages', from the line before: the work would have required thousands of years.
WordBirne names the flask's shape die Birne means 'pear'. Here it names the bulbous glass vessel on the bench by its shape, the same object called Kolben in the first stanza. It is the accusative object joined to Jahrtausende für sich by und, following diese, 'this'.
7
in which it seethed; in the brain, constellations
WordAn impersonal verb for boiling brodeln means 'to bubble, seethe, simmer', describing a boiling liquid in motion. es brodelte in der, 'it seethed in it', uses the impersonal subject es with no named cause, so the parses show only the motion itself inside the flask, with no separate agent stated.
WordGestirn versus Stern das Gestirn, plural Gestirne, means 'star, planet, or constellation', a more elevated word than the ordinary Stern. It is the nominative head of the phrase im Hirn Gestirne, a verbless clause naming what would need to fill the brain for the work to succeed.
8
and in his consciousness, at the least, the sea.
WordBewußtsein, an old spelling das Bewußtsein means 'consciousness, awareness', literally 'being conscious', from bewußt. The ß reflects the pre-1996 spelling; today it is written Bewusstsein. mindestens means 'at the least', qualifying das Meer, 'the sea', the noun this dative phrase depends on.
9
The monstrous thing he had willed,
WordAn adjective used as a noun ungeheuer is an adjective meaning 'monstrous, enormous, prodigious'. Nominalized with the article das, das Ungeheuere means 'the monstrous thing', close to but distinct from das Ungeheuer, 'the monster'. It is the nominative head of the sentence, describing the alchemist's whole undertaking.
GrammarPast participle of wollen gewollt is the past participle of the modal verb wollen, 'to want, to will'. The relative clause das er gewollt stands for das er gewollt hatte, 'which he had willed', with the auxiliary hatte dropped, as verse allows. das is the accusative relative pronoun referring to Ungeheuere.
10
he let it go this night. It turned
GrammarSeparable verb loslassen ließ ... los is the past tense of the separable verb loslassen, built from lassen, 'to let', plus the prefix los-. In a main clause the prefix moves to the end: er ließ es los, 'he let it go'. The line states him releasing something rather than completing it.
11
back to God and into its old measure;
GrammarSeparable verb zurückkehren kehrte ... zurück is the past tense of zurückkehren, 'to turn back, to return', formed from kehren plus the prefix zurück-. The finite verb kehrte stood in second position in the line before, and its prefix zurück opens this line at the end of the clause.
WordNoun for measure or degree Maß means 'measure, degree, proportion'; the spelling keeps ß because the vowel before it is long. In sein altes Maß, 'into its old measure', Maß is accusative neuter after the preposition in, naming the bounds the thing returns into.
12
but he, babbling like a drunkard,
GrammarPlacing aber after the pronoun aber means 'but, however'. Rilke places it directly after the pronoun, er aber, rather than as the first word of the clause, which puts the stress on the contrast between him and what was said before. The clause continues with a verb later in the sentence.
WordThe noun for a drunkard der Trunkenbold means 'drunkard'; the suffix -bold names a person by one defining trait, as in Witzbold, 'wisecracker'. wie ein Trunkenbold, 'like a drunkard', is a comparison introduced by wie. lallend, 'babbling', is the present participle of lallen, 'to babble, to slur one's words'.
13
lay over the secret drawer and craved
WordThe noun for a secret drawer das Geheimfach is a compound of geheim, 'secret', and das Fach, 'compartment, drawer', so it means 'secret drawer, hidden compartment'. über dem Geheimfach, 'over the secret drawer', uses the dative dem after über to mark where he lies.
WordThe verb for craving begehren means 'to desire, to crave, to covet', stronger than wollen, 'to want'. It is joined to lag by und, so the subject er lay and begehrte, 'craved'. Its object, den Brocken Gold, appears in the next line.
14
the lump of gold that he possessed.
WordThe noun for a lump der Brocken means 'lump, chunk, scrap', an unworked piece broken off something larger. den Brocken Gold means 'the lump of gold', accusative as the object of begehrte in the line before, with Gold naming what the lump is made of.
GrammarPast tense of besitzen besaß is the simple past of besitzen, 'to possess, to own'; the ß follows the long vowel. den er besaß means 'that he possessed', a relative clause with er as subject and besaß as its verb, referring back to den Brocken Gold.

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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