German · New Poems: The Other Part

Der Ball

The Ball

17 lines · 17 notes

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1
You round one, who the warmth out of two hands
DuYoudu · pronoun, nominative, singulardepends on Runder
Runderround onerund · noun, nominative, masculine, singularin apposition to Du
derwhoder · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on Runder
dastheder · determiner, accusative, neuter, singulardepends on Warme
Warmewarmthwarm · noun, accusative, neuter, singularobject of fortgibt (der-ball-s1-l2-w4)
ausout ofaus · prepositiondepends on Warme
zweitwozwei · numeraldepends on Händen
HändenhandsHand · noun, dative, feminine, pluraldepends on aus
GrammarAn adjective used as a noun Runder is the adjective rund, 'round', used as a noun of direct address: Du Runder means 'you round one'. der introduces the relative clause that follows, describing what the ball does.
2
in flying, up above, gives away, carefree as
GrammarSeparable verb staying joined fortgibt is the present tense, third-person singular, of fortgeben, 'to give away'. As a separable verb it could split in other positions, but here, at the end of its clause, prefix and stem stay joined.
3
as its own; what, in the objects,
WordA noun meaning its own Eigenes is the adjective eigen, 'own', used as a noun meaning 'what is one's own'. sein Eigenes means 'its own [warmth]', referring back to das Warme, 'the warmth', from the line before.
4
cannot stay, too unburdened for them,
WordUn- prefix makes unburdened unbeschwert means 'unburdened, carefree', combining the negating prefix un- with beschwert, 'burdened, weighed down'. zu unbeschwert für sie means 'too unburdened for them'.
5
too little a thing, and yet still thing enough,
WordNoun repeated, too little enough zu wenig Ding und doch noch Ding genug means 'too little a thing, and yet still thing enough'. Ding, 'thing', appears twice, once qualified by zu wenig, 'too little', and once by genug, 'enough', placed after the noun.
6
so as not, out of all the things ranged outside,
GrammarA negated purpose clause um nicht ... einzugleiten means 'so as not to glide in'. um ... zu forms a purpose clause; adding nicht before the infinitive negates the purpose, so as to avoid the action named.
7
suddenly, invisibly, to glide into us:
GrammarInfinitive completes a purpose clause einzugleiten is the infinitive of eingleiten, 'to glide in', with zu inserted between prefix and stem: ein-zu-gleiten. It completes the um nicht ... zu construction begun in the line before.
8
that glided into you, you between fall and flight
GrammarSimple past, glided glitt is the simple past, third-person singular, of gleiten, 'to glide'. das glitt in dich means 'that glided into you', with das referring back to something named earlier in the poem.
9
still an undecided one, who, when he rises,
WordAn undecided one, as noun Unentschlossener is the adjective unentschlossen, 'undecided', used as a noun, 'an undecided one'. noch Unentschlossener means 'still an undecided one', describing the ball's uncertain motion.
10
as though it had carried him up along with it,
GrammarSubjunctive after als, as though als hätte er uses hätte, the Konjunktiv II (subjunctive) of haben, 'to have'. mit is a stranded separable prefix of mit ... hinaufheben, 'to lift up along with', not the preposition 'with' here.
11
carries the throw off and sets it free–, and inclines,
WordTwo verbs, carries off and frees entführt and freiläßt are present tense, third-person singular, of entführen, 'to carry off, to abduct', and freilassen, 'to release, to set free'. freiläßt is the old spelling of freilässt.
12
and pauses, and to the players from above
WordParticiple noun for players Spielenden is the dative plural of Spielende, the present participle of spielen, 'to play', used as a noun meaning 'players'. den Spielenden von oben means 'to the players from above'.
13
all at once shows a new place,
WordAn idiom, all at once auf einmal is an idiom meaning 'all at once, suddenly'. auf, 'at, on', and einmal, 'once', combine to form a fixed phrase rather than a literal 'at one time'.
14
arranging them as if into a dance-figure,
GrammarPresent participle, arranging ordnend is the present participle of ordnen, 'to arrange, to order'. sie ordnend wie zu einer Tanzfigur means 'arranging them as though into a dance-figure', an action alongside the main verb rather than the main verb itself.
15
in order then, awaited and longed for by all,
WordTwo past participles, awaited and desired erwartet and erwünscht are past participles of erwarten, 'to await', and the adjective erwünscht, 'desired'. erwartet und erwünscht von allen means 'awaited and desired by all'. um here opens a purpose clause completed by zuzufallen two lines later.
16
swift, simple, artless, all nature,
WordSuffix -los makes artless kunstlos means 'artless, without artifice', combining Kunst, 'art', with the negating suffix -los. rasch, einfach, kunstlos, ganz Natur strings together adjectives describing the ball's motion as swift, simple, artless, all nature.
17
to fall into the cup of upraised hands.
GrammarInfinitive completes a purpose clause zuzufallen is the infinitive of the separable verb zufallen, 'to fall to, to fall into', with zu inserted between prefix and stem: zu-zu-fallen. It completes the um ... zu construction begun earlier: 'in order to fall into the cup of hands'.

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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