German · New Poems: The Other Part

Der Einsame

The Solitary One

12 lines · 12 notes

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1
No: a tower shall be made out of my heart
NeinNonein · particledepends on soll
einaein · determiner, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on Turm
TurmtowerTurm · noun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on soll
sollshallsollen · auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
seinbesein · auxiliary verb, infinitivedepends on soll
ausout ofaus · prepositiondepends on sein
meinemmymein · determiner, dative, neuter, singulardepends on Herzen
HerzenheartHerz · noun, dative, neuter, singulardepends on aus
GrammarModal plus infinitive, intended outcome soll sein combines sollen, 'shall, is to', with the infinitive sein, 'to be': ein Turm soll sein, 'a tower is to be [made]'. sollen expresses an intended or commanded outcome, not simple future.
2
and I myself set at its edge:
GrammarPast participle, set, placed gestellt is the past participle of stellen, 'to set, to place'. an seinen Rand gestellt means 'set at its edge', describing ich, the speaker, placed at the tower's rim.
3
where else there is nothing more, once again pains
WordOnce again, a repeated phrase noch einmal means 'once again, one more time'. It modifies the nouns that follow in this list, Schmerzen, Unsäglichkeit, and Welt, each repeated 'once again'.
4
and unsayableness, once again world.
WordA noun for unsayableness Unsäglichkeit is a noun built from unsäglich, 'unsayable, inexpressible', itself un- plus sagen, 'to say'. It names the abstract state of what cannot be said.
5
One more thing, alone in the over-vast,
WordA noun for the over-vast Übergroßen is a noun formed from übergroß, 'oversized, over-vast', itself über-, 'over, beyond', plus groß, 'great, large'. im Übergroßen means 'in the over-vast [expanse]'.
6
which grows dark and again light,
GrammarRelative pronoun referring back welches, 'which', is a relative pronoun, nominative neuter singular, agreeing with Ding from the line before. It introduces the clause welches dunkel wird und wieder licht, 'which grows dark and again light'.
7
one last, longing face
WordPresent participle used as adjective sehnendes is the present participle of sich sehnen, 'to long, to yearn', used here as an adjective: ein letztes, sehnendes Gesicht, 'one last, longing face'.
8
cast out into the never-to-be-stilled,
GrammarA compound adjective used as noun das Nie-zu-Stillende is an adjective, 'never to be stilled', built from nie, 'never', and zu stillen, 'to be stilled', turned into a noun by the article das. It names an abstract state rather than a specific thing.
9
one uttermost face of stone,
WordSuperlative meaning uttermost äußerstes is the superlative of äußer, 'outer', meaning 'uttermost, extreme'. ein äußerstes Gesicht aus Stein means 'one uttermost face of stone'.
10
willing toward its inner weights,
GrammarDative object of willig willig, 'willing', here governs the dative case: seinen inneren Gewichten, 'toward its inner weights'. Adjectives like willig that express disposition toward something often take a dative object in German.
11
which the distances, that silently destroy it,
GrammarNested relative clauses das die Weiten, die es still vernichten, zwingen nests one relative clause inside another: die Weiten is modified by die es ... vernichten, 'that silently destroy it', before the outer clause's verb zwingen, 'force', is reached.
12
force ever more blissful to be.
GrammarVerb plus infinitive with zu zwingen ... zu sein means 'force ... to be'. zwingen, 'to force', takes an infinitive with zu to name what someone or something is forced to do: immer seliger zu sein, 'to be ever more blissful'.

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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