German · New Poems

Der Gefangene

The Prisoner

27 lines · 26 notes

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1
My hand has only one
MeineMymein · determiner, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on Hand
HandhandHand · noun, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on hat
hathashaben · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
nuronlynur · adverbdepends on hat
nochleftnoch · adverbdepends on nur
eineoneein · determiner, accusative, feminine, singulardepends on Gebärde
GrammarOnly left, nothing more The pairing nur noch means 'only, with nothing more remaining'. noch, which usually means 'still', marks something dwindling down to one last thing. Meine Hand hat nur noch eine means 'my hand has only one left', with the noun it describes arriving in the next line.
2
gesture left, the one that shoos away;
WordTo shoo or chase away verscheuchen means 'to chase or frighten off'; the prefix ver- adds the sense of driving something away. In mit der sie verscheucht, der is a dative relative pronoun governed by mit and refers back to Gebärde. verscheucht is the main verb of that relative clause.
3
onto the ancient stones
Grammarauf with the accusative means motion auf is a two-way preposition: with the dative it states location, 'on', and with the accusative it states motion toward, 'onto'. Die alten Steine is accusative here, so it names a destination rather than a place. Alten agrees with Steine as an accusative plural adjective.
4
it falls, damp, out of the rock.
GrammarThe preposition aus takes dative aus always takes the dative case and means 'out of, from inside'. aus Felsen means 'out of the rock'. es is a neuter pronoun with no stated noun it stands for, referring generally to the moisture that is falling.
5
I hear only this knocking,
WordInfinitive used as a noun klopfen means 'to knock, to tap, to beat'. The nominalized form das Klopfen names the sound itself, 'the knocking'. It is accusative here because it is the direct object of höre, 'I hear'.
6
and my heart keeps pace
WordA fixed idiom for keeping pace Schritt halten mit is a fixed idiom meaning 'to keep pace, to keep step with'. Schritt means 'step, stride', and halten here means 'to keep, maintain'. hält is the main verb, and Schritt is its direct object.
7
with the going of the drops
GrammarGenitive plural without an ending der Tropfen here is the genitive plural of Tropfen, 'drop', meaning 'of the drops'. It depends on das Gehen, a noun made from the verb gehen, 'to go'. Das Gehen der Tropfen together means 'the going of the drops'.
8
and passes away with it.
WordA verb for fading away vergehen means 'to pass, elapse, fade away', used of time, pain, or dying. It is present tense third person singular here, agreeing with an earlier subject named in the poem. damit means 'with it, along with it', linking the fading to something mentioned just before.
9
If only they would drip faster,
GrammarA wish with verb first Putting the verb first in the sentence, together with the particle doch, forms a wish: Tropften sie doch schneller means 'if only they would drip faster'. Tropften is the subjunctive past form of tropfen, 'to drip'. doch adds the sense of longing to the wish.
10
if only an animal would come again.
GrammarKonjunktiv II of kommen käme is the Konjunktiv II, or subjunctive, form of kommen, 'to come'. It stands first in the clause, with doch and wieder giving it the force of a wish that has not come true, 'if only it would come again'. ein Tier, 'an animal', is its subject.
11
Somewhere it was brighter–.
WordAn adverb meaning somewhere irgendwo means 'somewhere, somewhere or other', leaving the place unspecified. War es heller uses the impersonal pronoun es with war, the past tense of sein, to mean 'it was brighter'. Heller is the comparative of hell, 'bright'.
12
But what do we know.
13
II
14
Imagine: what is now sky and wind,
GrammarAn imperative with reflexive dative Denk is the informal imperative of denken, 'to think'. dir is the dative reflexive pronoun, so Denk dir literally means 'think to yourself', used idiomatically as 'imagine, picture this'. The whole phrase gives a command addressed directly to the person spoken to.
15
air for your mouth and light for your eye,
GrammarDative with no preposition deinem Mund and deinem Auge are dative forms used without a preposition, meaning 'for your mouth' and 'for your eye'. This dative marks who benefits from something. Luft deinem Mund means 'air for your mouth', and deinem Auge Helle means 'brightness for your eye'.
16
all that would turn to stone, up to the small spot
GrammarKonjunktiv II with werden würde is the Konjunktiv II form of werden, and werden plus a predicate noun means 'to turn into', so würde Stein means 'would turn to stone'. das is the subject of würde. bis um die kleine Stelle means 'up to the small spot', with bis depending on um.
17
where your heart and your hands are.
GrammarA dative relative clause an der combines the preposition an with the dative relative pronoun der, agreeing with a feminine noun, to mean 'at which, where'. Sind, the plural present of sein, sits at the end of the clause, as German requires in a subordinate clause. Dein Herz und deine Hände are its two subjects, 'your heart and your hands'.
18
And what in you now is called tomorrow and: then
WordA verb for being named heißen means 'to be named, be called' and also 'to signify'. was jetzt in dir morgen heißt means 'what right now in you is called tomorrow', naming the sense of future time itself. heißt is present tense third person singular, matching the pronoun was.
19
and: later on and next year and onward–
WordAdverb for later time späterhin is an adverb meaning 'later on, subsequently, henceforth'. It appears alongside nächstes Jahr, 'next year', and weiter, 'onward', all joined by repeated und, 'and'. This repetition lists several words for future time one after another.
20
all that would turn raw in you and full of pus
WordAn adjective for raw skin wund means 'sore, raw, chafed', describing skin that will not heal. würde wund means 'would turn raw', with wund a predicate adjective depending on würde. voller Eiter means 'full of pus', where voller functions like a preposition before the noun Eiter.
21
and would only suppurate and never break open again.
WordKonjunktiv II of an old verb schwären is an old verb meaning 'to fester, suppurate', for a sore to run with infection. schwäre is its Konjunktiv II form, continuing a hypothesis begun earlier in the sentence. Bräche, from anbrechen, 'to break open', is negated by nicht mehr, 'no longer', so the sore never bursts.
GrammarA separable verb in the subjunctive anbrechen, 'to break open, begin', is a separable verb. Its subjunctive form bräche takes the second position in the clause while the prefix an is pushed to the end, giving bräche nicht mehr an, 'would break open no more'. A stranded prefix at the end of a clause is the sign of a separable verb.
22
And what once was, that would be mad and
WordAdjective meaning insane irre means 'mad, deranged, out of one's mind'. das was war means 'what once was', referring to the past, and wäre irre means 'would be insane'. wäre is the Konjunktiv II form of sein, 'to be', which keeps the statement in the conditional 'would be' rather than a plain fact.
23
would rampage about inside you, the dear mouth,
GrammarSeparable verb, prefix at the end herumrasen, 'to rage or rampage around', is a separable verb, so its prefix herum moves to the end of the clause: raste in dir herum means 'would rage around inside you'. rasen alone means 'to rave, to move wildly'. den lieben Mund is accusative, extending the verb's reach to the mouth.
24
that never laughed, frothing with laughter.
WordPresent participle meaning frothing schäumen means 'to foam, froth', of waves or a mouth, and schäumend is its present participle, 'frothing'. It depends on the noun Mund named earlier in the poem. Von Gelächter, 'with laughter', names what the mouth is frothing with.
25
And what was God would be only your guard
WordA noun meaning watchman der Wächter means a watchman or guard, here used for a prison warder. das was Gott war is the subject, 'what once was God', and wäre nur dein Wächter is the subjunctive predicate, 'would be only your guard'. nur, 'only, merely', limits the noun that follows it.
26
and would spitefully stuff into the last hole
WordVerb meaning to stuff stopfen means 'to stuff, to cram, to plug', as with a hole or a pipe. stopfte in das letzte Loch means 'would cram into the last hole'. in das Loch takes the accusative because it marks motion into a place, and boshaft, 'malicious, spiteful', describes how the action is done.
27
a filthy eye. And you would go on living all the same.
GrammarKonjunktiv II, second person lebtest is the Konjunktiv II form of leben, 'to live', in the second person singular. doch here means 'and yet, all the same'. Und du lebtest doch means 'and yet you would go on living', a hypothetical statement rather than a fact.

The particulars

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