German · New Poems

Der Dichter

The Poet

8 lines · 9 notes

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1
You draw away from me, you hour.
Duyoudu · pronoun, nominative, singulardepends on entfernst
entfernstdraw awayentfernen · verb, present, indicative, second-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
dichyourselfsich · pronoun, accusative, singular, reflexivedepends on entfernst
vonfromvon · prepositiondepends on entfernst
mirmemir · pronoun, dative, singulardepends on von
duyoudu · pronoun, nominative, singularvocative, in apposition with Stunde
StundehourStunde · noun, nominative, feminine, singularvocative, apposition with du
Direct address (vocative) — 'you, o hour' — so Stunde takes the nominative form, not accusative.
GrammarA reflexive verb of motion sich entfernen means 'to move away, withdraw'. The reflexive pronoun dich belongs to the verb, not a separate object: du entfernst dich means 'you remove yourself, you move off'. The poet addresses the hour directly with the familiar du.
2
Your wingbeat strikes me wounds.
GrammarA fronted object, verb still second German keeps the finite verb in second position even when something other than the subject opens the line. Here the object Wunden, 'wounds', is fronted; schlägt holds second place; the subject dein Flügelschlag follows.
WordA compound noun for one wingbeat Flügelschlag compounds Flügel, 'wing', and Schlag, 'beat, blow', naming a single stroke of a wing. It echoes schlägt, 'strikes', in the same line, so the wing that beats is also the thing that wounds.
3
Alone: what am I to do with my mouth?
Grammarsollen asking what to do The modal sollen here is not obligation but bewilderment: was soll ich mit meinem Munde? means 'what am I supposed to do with my mouth?'. Munde is the dative of Mund with the old -e ending, kept here for the verse.
4
with my night? with my day?
Grammarmit always takes the dative The preposition mit, 'with', always governs the dative, which is why the possessives shift to meiner Nacht, feminine dative, and meinem Tag, masculine dative. The fragments continue the question of what to do with his nights and days.
5
I have no beloved, no house,
Grammarkein negates a noun German negates a noun with kein, 'not a, no', rather than nicht. It declines like the indefinite article ein: keine Geliebte, feminine, and kein Haus, neuter. Geliebte, 'beloved', is an adjectival noun, feminine here for a female beloved.
6
no place on which I live.
GrammarA relative clause sends the verb to the end auf der ich lebe is a relative clause: der is the dative relative pronoun, feminine, after auf, referring back to Stelle, 'place'. In a subordinate clause the finite verb moves to the very end, so lebe, 'I live', closes the line.
7
All things to which I give myself,
WordTo give oneself over to something sich geben an etwas means 'to give oneself over, devote oneself to something'. an die is the relative pronoun governed by an, marking the direction of giving, pointing back to alle Dinge. The reflexive mich makes the poet himself the gift.
8
grow rich and spend me away.
GrammarA separable verb meaning to spend ausgeben means 'to spend money, to expend'. It is separable: in a main clause the prefix aus splits off and goes to the end, leaving geben … aus wrapped around the object mich. The things the poet gives himself to grow rich and spend him.

The particulars

The text: Neue Gedichte, Rainer Maria Rilke. New Poems.
Reading aloud: Digital narration, directed by 1732 Studios.
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