German · New Poems: The Other Part

Der Berg

The Mountain

16 lines · 15 notes

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1
Six-and-thirty times and a hundred times
Sechsunddreißigmalsix-and-thirty timessechsunddreißigmal · adverbhead of the phrase
undandund · conjunctiondepends on Sechsunddreißigmal
hundertmala hundred timeshundertmal · adverbdepends on und
WordNumbers plus -mal, times Sechsunddreißigmal means 'six-and-thirty times', combining the number sechsunddreißig, 'thirty-six', with the suffix -mal, 'times'. hundertmal likewise means 'a hundred times'.
2
the painter has written that mountain,
WordWritten, used for painting geschrieben is the past participle of schreiben, which usually means 'to write' but here describes the painter's repeated act of painting the mountain: 'the painter has written that mountain', as though each painting were an entry or attempt.
3
torn away, driven back again,
GrammarTwo past participles in a row weggerissen and hingetrieben are past participles of wegreißen, 'to tear away', and hintreiben, 'to drive toward, to drive back'. Both describe the same unnamed subject, the painter or his attention, without a stated main verb.
4
(six-and-thirty times and a hundred times)
5
to the incomprehensible volcano,
GrammarPreposition taking the dative zu, 'to, toward', always takes the dative case. dem unbegreiflichen Vulkane is dative singular of der Vulkan, 'volcano', with an older dative ending -e still visible on Vulkane.
6
blissful, full of temptation, at a loss,—
WordAn idiom, at a loss ohne Rat literally means 'without counsel', an idiom for being at a loss, uncertain what to do. Rat means 'counsel, advice'; ohne, 'without', takes the accusative.
7
while the one clad with outline
GrammarA noun made from a participle Angetane is the past participle of antun, 'to put on, to clothe with', turned into a noun, 'the one clad'. der mit Umriß Angetane means 'the one clad with outline', with mit Umriß, 'with outline', describing how he is dressed.
8
called no halt to its glory:
WordAn idiom, to call a halt Einhalt tun is an idiom meaning 'to call a halt, to put a stop to something'. Einhalt means 'halt, check'; tat is the simple past of tun, 'to do'. Negated by nicht, it means 'called no halt'.
9
a thousand times surfacing out of all the days,
GrammarPresent participle, surfacing repeatedly tauchend is the present participle of tauchen, 'to dive, to plunge, to surface'. tausendmal aus allen Tagen tauchend means 'surfacing a thousand times out of all the days', an ongoing, repeated action.
10
letting nights without equal fall away
WordA compound meaning without equal ohnegleichen means 'without equal, unparalleled', combining ohne, 'without', and gleichen, 'to resemble, to equal'. Nächte ohnegleichen means 'nights without equal'.
11
from itself, all of them as if too scant;
GrammarCausative verb, letting fall fallen lassend combines the infinitive fallen, 'to fall', with the present participle of lassen, 'to let', meaning 'letting fall'. lassen plus an infinitive names something the subject permits or causes to happen.
12
using up each image in the instant,
WordPresent participle, using up verbrauchend is the present participle of verbrauchen, 'to use up, to consume'. jedes Bild im Augenblick verbrauchend means 'using up each image in the instant'.
13
heightened from form to form,
WordMarking a path, form to form von Gestalt gesteigert zu Gestalt means 'heightened from form to form', with von and zu marking the starting and ending points. gesteigert is the past participle of steigern, 'to heighten, to intensify'.
14
indifferent and vast and without opinion—,
WordSuffix -los makes indifferent teilnahmslos means 'indifferent, without participation', combining Teilnahme, 'participation', with the negating suffix -los. It describes the mountain as teilnahmslos und weit und ohne Meinung, 'indifferent and vast and without opinion'.
15
in order all at once, knowing, like an apparition,
GrammarOpening another purpose clause um here begins an um ... zu construction, completed by sich zu heben in the next line: 'in order, all at once knowing, like an apparition, to lift itself'. wissend is the present participle of wissen, 'to know'.
16
to lift itself behind every cleft.
GrammarInfinitive completes a purpose clause sich zu heben, 'to lift itself', completes the um ... zu construction begun in the line before. hinter jedem Spalt means 'behind every cleft', naming where the lifting happens.

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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