German · New Poems: The Other Part

Der Balkon

The Balcony

25 lines · 23 notes

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1
From the narrowness, above, of the balcony,
Vonfromvon · prepositiondepends on sehn
dertheder · determiner, dative, feminine, singulardepends on Enge
EngenarrownessEnge · noun, dative, feminine, singulardepends on Von
obenaboveoben · adverbdepends on Enge
desof theder · determiner, genitive, masculine, singulardepends on Balkones
BalkonesbalconyBalkon · noun, genitive, masculine, singulardepends on Enge
WordAbstract noun from eng Enge is the abstract noun from eng, 'narrow'. It means 'narrowness, a cramped space'. Here von der Enge names the tight space at the top of the balcony, the dative object of von.
GrammarGenitive ending -es des Balkones is the genitive of der Balkon, 'of the balcony'. The ending -es is an older variant of plain -s. The genitive phrase closes the line, after the adverb oben, 'above'.
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arranged as if by a painter
GrammarSeparable verb as participle anordnen means 'to arrange, set in order'; it is separable, an plus ordnen. Its past participle inserts ge- after the prefix, angeordnet, 'arranged'. Here it describes the figures on the balcony as arranged by an unnamed painter.
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and bound as into a bouquet
WordA bunch of flowers Strauß means 'a bouquet, a bunch of flowers'. gebunden wie zu einem Strauß means 'bound as into a bouquet', describing how the figures are gathered together on the balcony.
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of aging faces, and of oval ones,
GrammarGenitive plural after Strauß alternder Gesichter is genitive plural, 'of aging faces', depending on Strauß in the line before. alternd is the present participle of altern, 'to grow old', used as an adjective. und ovaler extends the same genitive to 'oval ones'.
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clear in the evening, they look more ideal,
GrammarSeparable verb split across lines aussehen means 'to look, appear' and is separable. The finite verb sehn, a clipped form of sehen, stands here, but its prefix aus does not arrive until the end of the next line. sehn sie idealer aus means 'they look more ideal'.
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more touching, and as if forever.
GrammarSeparable prefix lands here This aus completes aussehen, begun with sehn in the line before: sehn sie aus, 'they look'. The comparatives idealer and rührender, 'more ideal, more touching', and the phrase wie für immer, 'forever', all depend on this verb.
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These sisters leaning one against another,
GrammarAdverb plus adjectival participle aneinander means 'against one another'; anlehnen, separable, is 'to lean against'. angelehnten is its past participle used as an adjective, agreeing with Schwestern in the next line, 'these sisters leaning against one another'.
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sisters who, as if from afar
GrammarSubjunctive of comparison als ob means 'as though' and introduces an unreal comparison, so its verb takes the subjunctive, here sehnten two lines down. The sentence reads 'as though they longed for one another from afar'. The clause opened here completes only at sehnten.
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with no prospect, longed for one another,
GrammarSubjunctive of sich sehnen sich sehnen nach means 'to long for'. sehnten is Konjunktiv II, past subjunctive, governed by als ob above, so it reads 'as though they longed'. nacheinander means 'for one another'; ohne Aussicht means 'without prospect'.
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lean, loneliness against loneliness;
WordNoun repeated across a preposition Einsamkeit means 'loneliness'. lehnen, 'to lean', is now the main verb of the sentence begun with Diese Schwestern. The repeated noun with an, 'against', gives Einsamkeit an Einsamkeit, 'loneliness against loneliness'.
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and the brother with the solemn
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silence, closed shut, full of fate,
WordZuschließen and Geschick zuschließen means 'to lock, to shut'; zugeschlossen describes the brother as 'locked up, shut in'. Geschick means 'fate, destiny' here rather than its other sense 'skill'. voll Geschick reads 'full of fate'.
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yet by a gentle moment
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imperceptibly likened to the mother;
GrammarDative-governing verb, passive participle vergleichen mit means 'to compare, to liken to' and takes the dative, mit der Mutter, 'to the mother'. verglichen is its past participle, used passively here, 'likened to the mother'. unbemerkt means 'imperceptibly'.
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and in between, worn out and elongated,
WordWorn out by living abgelebt, literally 'lived off, used up', is the participle of ableben, here meaning 'worn out by living, spent'. länglich means 'elongated, longish'. dazwischen, 'in between', places this figure among the others in the group.
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long since kin to no one,
GrammarVerwandt mit plus double negative verwandt mit means 'related to, kin to' and governs the dative. mit keinem mehr means 'with no one anymore': kein negates and mehr adds 'any longer'. längst, 'long since', intensifies the phrase 'long since related to no one'.
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an old woman's mask, unapproachable,
WordGenitive placed before its noun die Greisin means 'an aged woman, a crone'. einer Greisin Maske is genitive, 'an old woman's mask', with the genitive einer Greisin placed before its noun Maske, an older order. unzugänglich means 'inaccessible, unapproachable'.
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as if in falling, by the one hand
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held up, while a second,
GrammarParticiple suspended across lines aufhalten, separable, means 'to stop, to hold back'. The participle aufgehalten opens this line but belongs with the previous line's phrase, 'held up by the one hand'. während, 'while', then opens a contrast with a second hand.
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a more withered one, as if it slid further down,
GrammarSubjunctive of weitergleiten welkere is the comparative of welk, 'withered', so 'a more withered one'. weitergleiten, separable, means 'to glide onward'. weitergleite is Konjunktiv I after als ob, giving 'as though it slid further'.
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hangs to one side, below, before the clothes
GrammarFinite verb with stacked adverbs hängen, 'to hang', is the finite verb of this clause. zur Seite means 'to the side'; unten means 'below' and vor den Kleidern means 'before the clothes'. All three depend on hängt, stacking the hand's position precisely.
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of the child's countenance,
WordA solemn word for face Angesicht is an elevated, literary word for 'face, countenance', more formal than the everyday Gesicht. Kinder-Angesicht means 'child's countenance'. The preposition von reaches back to hängt vor den Kleidern across the stanza break.
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which is the last one, tentative, faded,
GrammarTwo different words for das The two instances of das here are different words. The first is a relative pronoun, 'which'; the second is the article in das Letzte, 'the last one'. versucht here means 'tentative', and verblichen means 'faded, pale'.
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by the railings struck through again,
WordStruck through, like writing die Stäbe are the 'bars, rods' of the balcony railing. durchstreichen means 'to strike through, cross out'; durchgestrichen is its past participle. von den Stäben wieder durchgestrichen means 'struck through again by the railings'.
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as still indeterminable, as not yet.
WordUndefinable and not yet unbestimmbar means 'undefinable, impossible to determine', built from bestimmen, 'to determine', plus un-...-bar, 'un-...-able'. wie noch nicht means 'as not yet'. Both phrases describe the child's face as still unfixed.

The particulars

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