German · New Poems: The Other Part

Der Blinde

The Blind Man

12 lines · 12 notes

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

1
Look, he walks and interrupts the city,
SiehLooksehen · verb, imperative, second-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
erheer · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on geht
gehtwalksgehen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the following clause
undandund · conjunctioncoordinates geht and unterbricht
unterbrichtinterruptsunterbrechen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularcoordinated with geht
dietheder · determiner, accusative, feminine, singulardepends on Stadt
StadtcityStadt · noun, accusative, feminine, singulardepends on unterbricht
GrammarImperative addressing the reader Sieh is the singular imperative of sehen, 'to see, to look', addressing the reader directly. unterbrechen means 'to interrupt, to break into'; the blind man cuts across the city rather than moving through it.
2
which is not there upon his darkened place,
GrammarArchaic dative ending on dunkel dunkeln is the dative singular feminine form of dunkel, 'dark', agreeing with Stelle, 'place', after auf, which here governs the dative as a fixed location. It is an older, poetically retained ending rather than a modern contraction.
3
as a dark crack runs through a pale
WordNoun meaning crack, not leap der Sprung means both 'a leap' and 'a crack, a fissure' in something brittle like glass or china. Here it means the crack: the blind man is a dark crack running through the bright city as through a cup.
4
cup. And as upon a sheet of paper
GrammarNoun split from its verb by a line break Tasse, 'cup', completes the simile begun in the line before, durch eine helle Tasse geht, 'runs through a pale cup', splitting the noun and its verb across the line break. das Blatt means both 'leaf' and 'sheet of paper'.
5
the reflection of things lies painted on him,
WordCompound noun for reflected light der Widerschein means 'reflection, reflected glow', literally a shining-back, from wider-, 'back, against', and Schein, 'shine'. der Dinge is genitive plural of das Ding, 'thing': 'the reflection of things'.
6
painted on; he does not take it in.
GrammarSeparable verb for taking in hineinnehmen means 'to take in, to draw inside', separable, with the prefix hinein splitting to the end of the clause: nimmt ... hinein. ihn refers back to der Widerschein, 'the reflection'.
7
Only his feeling stirs, as though it caught
GrammarInfinitive turned into a noun Fühlen is the infinitive fühlen, 'to feel', used as a neuter noun, das Fühlen, 'feeling'. German freely turns verbs into nouns this way. sich rühren means 'to stir, to move'.
8
the world in little waves:
GrammarKonjunktiv II of a separable verb finge ... ein is the past subjunctive of the separable verb einfangen, 'to catch, to capture', required by als, 'as though', to mark the comparison as imagined. The prefix ein falls to the end of the clause, onto the next line.
9
a stillness, a resistance—,
WordCompound noun for resistance der Widerstand means 'resistance, opposition', what pushes back, from wider-, 'against', and stehen, 'to stand'. eine Stille and einen Widerstand are both accusative objects of finge ein from the line before.
10
and then he seems, waiting, to choose someone:
GrammarParticiple plus indefinite pronoun wartend is the present participle of warten, 'to wait', used adverbially, 'waiting'. wen is the accusative of wer, 'who', here meaning 'someone'. scheinen zu wählen means 'to seem to choose', using scheinen plus zu plus infinitive.
11
self-surrendered, he lifts his hand,
WordParticiple used adverbially for surrender hingegeben is the past participle of sich hingeben, 'to give oneself over, to surrender oneself', used adverbially here to mean 'in self-surrender'. It describes how he lifts his hand.
12
almost solemnly, as if to wed himself.
WordElevated verb for to wed sich vermählen means 'to marry, to wed', an elevated, ceremonious word. um ... zu vermählen is a purpose clause, 'in order to wed'; with wie before it, 'as though to wed himself'. festlich means 'festive, solemn'.

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