German · New Poems: The Other Part

Der Käferstein

The Scarab

12 lines · 13 notes

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1
Are not stars almost in your nearness,
SindAresein · verb, present, indicative, third-person, pluralmain verb of the sentence
nichtnotnicht · particledepends on Sind
SternestarsStern · noun, nominative, masculine, pluraldepends on Sind
fastalmostfast · adverbdepends on in
ininin · prepositiondepends on Sind
deineryourdein · determiner, dative, feminine, singulardepends on Nähe
NähenearnessNähe · noun, dative, feminine, singulardepends on in
GrammarVerb-first word order for a question Sind stands first, the German order for a yes/no question: 'Are not stars ...?'. nicht makes it rhetorical. in deiner Nähe is dative after in, 'in your nearness'; the sentence continues through line 4.
2
and what is there that you do not encompass,
WordInseparable prefix stays attached umspannen means 'to span, encircle'. Its prefix um- is inseparable, so it stays fused to the verb: du umspannst, 'you encompass'. was gibt es, das is 'what is there that', with das picking up the neuter was as its antecedent.
3
since you cannot grasp at all the carnelian
GrammarCausal da, verb held back da here is the causal conjunction 'since, because', which sends its finite verb to the end of the clause, landing on kannst in line 4. dieser harten Skarabäe is genitive plural, 'of these hard scarabs', depending on the noun in the next line.
4
core of these hard scarabs at all —
GrammarVerb-final after a subordinator Because da is a subordinating conjunction, the finite verb kannst goes to the very end of the clause, after the infinitive it governs: fassen kannst, '... can grasp'. gar nicht intensifies the negation to 'not at all'.
5
without that space which presses their wing-cases
Grammarohne takes the accusative ohne, 'without', always takes the accusative, here jenen Raum, 'that space'; jenen is the masculine accusative of jener, 'that one'. The relative clause opens with der, 'which', referring back to Raum.
WordAn insect's hard wing-cases Schild, plural Schilder, means 'shield'. Applied to a beetle it names the hard wing-cases, or elytra, covering its back. A different plural, Schilde, is used for a warrior's shield; Schilder also serves for signboards.
6
down, to carry along upon your whole blood;
GrammarSeparable prefix rejoins in a relative clause niederhalten means 'to hold down'. It is separable, prefix nieder- plus halten, but inside the relative clause der ihre Schilder niederhält the prefix re-attaches at the clause end: niederhält, 'holds down'. Raum is its subject.
7
never was it gentler,
Grammarzu-infinitive of a separable verb mittragen means 'to carry along, help bear'. As a zu-infinitive, zu is inserted between the prefix and stem: mit-zu-tragen. It completes ohne ... mitzutragen, 'without also bearing along', from the line above.
8
nearer, more given-over. It rests
WordComparative of a past participle hingegeben is the past participle of sich hingeben, 'to give oneself over', used as an adjective meaning 'devoted, surrendered'. hingegebener is its comparative, 'more given-over', paired here with milder and näher, also comparatives.
9
for thousands of years upon these beetles,
Grammarseit takes the dative seit, 'since, for', takes the dative. Jahrtausenden is the dative plural of das Jahrtausend, 'millennium', with the -n ending German adds to most plural nouns after a dative preposition. auf diesen Käfern is likewise dative, marking where something rests.
10
where no one needs it and breaks it off;
Wordunterbrechen, an inseparable verb unterbrechen means 'to interrupt, break off'; its prefix unter- is inseparable, so it stays fused: unterbricht, '(it) interrupts'. ihn, accusative 'it', is the shared object of both braucht und unterbricht. keiner means 'no one'.
11
and the beetles close themselves and grow drowsy
GrammarReflexive verb for closing sich schließen is the reflexive verb 'to close oneself, shut'. die Käfer schließen sich means 'the beetles close themselves up'. schläfern normally takes no personal subject; here it is used with die Käfer to mean 'grow drowsy'.
12
under its cradling weight.
WordPresent participle used as adjective wiegend is the present participle of wiegen, 'to rock, cradle', used here as an adjective: wiegendes Gewicht, 'cradling weight'. unter seinem wiegenden Gewicht is dative after unter, 'under'. wiegen also means 'to weigh'.

The particulars

The text: Neue Gedichte, Rainer Maria Rilke. New Poems: The Other Part.
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