German · New Poems: The Other Part

Der Auferstandene

The Risen One

18 lines · 16 notes

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

1
Right to the very end he could never
ErHeer · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on vermochte
vermochtecouldvermögen · verb, past, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
niemalsneverniemals · adverbdepends on vermochte
bisright tobis · prepositiondepends on vermochte
zuletztthe very endzuletzt · adverbdepends on bis
WordAn elevated verb for being able Vermochte is the simple past of vermögen, an elevated verb meaning 'to be able, to have the power to'. It governs an infinitive with zu that follows in the next line: er vermochte ... zu weigern, 'he was able to refuse.' Bis zuletzt means 'right up to the end.'
2
refuse her, or say no to her,
WordA Rilke coinage Abneinen is not standard German; it is built from ab-, 'away', and nein, 'no', on the model of abweisen, 'to turn away'. As a zu-infinitive of a separable verb the zu sits between prefix and stem: ab-zu-neinen, 'to say no to.'
3
that she should boast of her love;
GrammarSubjunctive of 'sich rühmen' Berühme, in sich berühme, is the subjunctive I of the archaic verb sich berühmen, 'to boast of, pride oneself on', marking indirect or reported intention. The reflexive verb takes a genitive object: ihrer Liebe, 'of her love.'
4
and she sank down at the cross in the costume
GrammarAn with the accusative for motion Ans contracts an das. With a verb of motion like sinken, 'to sink down', an takes the accusative to mark direction toward: ans Kreuz, 'down to the cross'. The dative in dem Kostüme that follows simply locates her, 'in the costume.'
5
of a grief, one wholly studded over
6
with the largest stones of her love.
WordA phrase for being set with jewels Besetzt sein mit means 'to be set, studded, or encrusted with', the phrase used for a crown set with jewels. Ihrer Liebe größten Steinen, dative after mit, means 'the largest stones of her love.'
7
But then, when she, in order to anoint him,
GrammarPurpose clause with um zu Um ... zu plus infinitive expresses purpose, 'in order to'. Its accusative object ihn, 'him', sits inside the bracket, and the infinitive salben, 'to anoint', closes it: um ihn zu salben, 'in order to anoint him.'
8
came to the grave, tears upon her face,
9
he had risen again for her sake,
WordAn archaic form for her sake Ihrethalben is an archaic form meaning 'for her sake, on her account', built from the genitive ihrer plus the postposition -halben, on the pattern of meinethalben. War auferstanden ihrethalben: 'had risen again for her sake.'
10
so that, more blessed, he might tell her: Do not–
GrammarSubjunctive of purpose, 'sage' Sage is the subjunctive I of sagen, 'to say', marking purpose: 'so that he might say'. Seliger is the comparative of selig, 'blessed', used adverbially, 'more blessedly'. The line breaks off unfinished on Nicht, 'Do not.'
11
She grasped it only later in her hollow,
WordA word meaning not until Erst here does not mean 'first' but 'not until, only then': sie begriff es erst means 'only then did she grasp it'. Begriff is the simple past of begreifen, 'to grasp, comprehend.'
12
how he, made strong through his own death,
GrammarPast participle as modifier Gestärkt is the past participle of stärken, 'to strengthen', used adjectivally, set off by commas: gestärkt durch seinen Tod, 'strengthened through his death'. Durch plus accusative marks the means.
13
at last forbade her the relief of the oils
GrammarNominalized participle From erleichtern, 'to ease, relieve', comes das Erleichternde, 'the relieving thing, that which gives relief', a present participle turned into a neuter noun with das. Der Öle is the genitive plural of das Öl, 'oil.'
14
and the foretaste of touching him,
GrammarVerbieten with dative and accusative Verbot, simple past of verbieten, 'to forbid', is the long-delayed main verb of the sentence: it forbids someone, dative, something, accusative. Des Rührens Vorgefühl means 'the foretaste of the touching', with the genitive des Rührens depending on Vorgefühl.
15
in order to form out of her the loving woman,
WordPresent participle as a feminine noun Die Liebende is the present participle of lieben, 'to love', used as a feminine noun: 'the woman who loves'. Um aus ihr ... zu formen is an um ... zu purpose clause: 'in order to form out of her.'
16
who no longer leans toward the beloved,
GrammarA reflexive verb for leaning toward The reflexive sich neigen means 'to lean, incline, bend'; with zu plus dative it is 'to lean toward'. Zum Geliebten means 'toward the beloved.' The relative pronoun die sends neigt to the end of its clause.
17
because she, swept away by enormous
WordPast participle for being carried away Hingerissen is the past participle of hinreißen, literally 'to tear away', figuratively 'to enrapture'. Hingerissen von, 'carried away by', governs the dative enormen Stürmen, 'enormous storms', that follows in the next line.
18
storms, rises above his voice.
WordThe last verb of the poem Übersteigt, from übersteigen, 'to climb over, surpass', is the final verb of the weil-clause, held to the last word of the poem: 'rises above his voice'. Its subject sie, 'she', governs the whole clause.

The particulars

The text: Neue Gedichte, Rainer Maria Rilke. New Poems: The Other Part.
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