German · New Poems: The Other Part

Der Leser

The Reader

16 lines · 15 notes

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1
Who knows him, this one, who has let his face
WerWhower · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on kennt
kenntknowskennen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
ihnhimihn · pronoun, accusative, masculine, singulardepends on kennt
diesenthis onedieser · pronoun, accusative, masculine, singulardepends on kennt
welcherwhowelcher · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on wegsenkte
seinhissein · determiner, accusative, neuter, singulardepends on Gesicht
GesichtfaceGesicht · noun, accusative, neuter, singulardepends on wegsenkte
GrammarA formal relative pronoun welcher, 'who', is a relative pronoun, nominative masculine singular, referring back to diesen, 'this one'. It is more formal than der or die used as a relative pronoun.
2
sink away from being toward a second,
WordSimple past, sank away wegsenkte is the simple past of wegsenken, 'to sink away, to lower away', combining weg-, 'away', with senken, 'to lower, to sink'. aus dem Sein zu einem zweiten means 'from being toward a second [being]'.
3
which only the swift turning of full pages
WordInfinitive used as a noun Wenden is the infinitive of wenden, 'to turn', used as a neuter noun, 'the turning'. das schnelle Wenden voller Seiten means 'the swift turning of full pages'; voller plus genitive means 'full of'.
4
sometimes violently interrupts?
GrammarPresent tense, interrupts unterbricht is the present tense, third-person singular, of unterbrechen, 'to interrupt'. manchmal gewaltsam unterbricht means 'sometimes violently interrupts'.
5
Even his own mother would not be certain
GrammarSubjunctive for uncertainty wäre is the Konjunktiv II (subjunctive) of sein, 'to be'. It marks a hypothetical: Selbst seine Mutter wäre nicht gewiß means 'even his own mother would not be certain', not a statement of fact.
6
whether it is he who there, with his own shadow,
GrammarConjunction for an indirect question ob, 'whether', is a subordinating conjunction introducing an indirect question, so it sends the verb ist to the end of its clause: ob er es ist, 'whether it is he'.
7
reads what is soaked through. And we, who had the hours,
WordParticiple turned into a noun Getränktes is the past participle of tränken, 'to soak, to steep', turned into a neuter noun meaning 'what is soaked through'. It is the object of liest, 'reads'.
8
what do we know of how much slipped from him, until
WordSimple past, slipped away hinschwand is the simple past, third-person singular, of hinschwinden, 'to slip away, to fade away', combining hin-, 'away', with schwinden, 'to dwindle, to vanish'.
9
he looked up with effort: lifting everything onto himself,
GrammarPrefix stays attached here aufsah is the simple past of aufsehen, 'to look up', a separable verb whose prefix auf stays attached because the verb is not in a main clause here. alles auf sich hebend means 'lifting everything onto himself'.
10
all that lay quiet down within the book,
WordTo lie still, not behave sich verhielt is the simple past of sich verhalten, which can mean 'to behave' but here means 'to lie, to rest, to hold itself'. was unten in dem Buche sich verhielt means 'that lay down within the book'.
11
with eyes that, instead of taking, giving,
GrammarInstead of, plus infinitive statt zu nehmen means 'instead of taking'. statt, 'instead of', takes an infinitive with zu to name the action not performed, contrasted here with gebend, 'giving', that follows.
12
knocked against the finished, full-grown world:
WordSimple past, knocked against anstießen is the simple past, third-person plural, of anstoßen, 'to knock against, to bump into'. anstießen an die fertig-volle Welt means 'knocked against the finished, full-grown world'.
13
like quiet children who have played alone,
14
and all at once encounter what is there;
WordA noun for what exists Vorhandene is the present participle of vorhanden sein, 'to exist, to be present', turned into a neuter noun meaning 'what is there, what exists'. It is the object of erfahren, 'to encounter'.
15
yet his features, which had been in order,
WordThe noun for facial features Züge means 'features', as of a face, from Zug, which can also mean 'pull' or 'train'. seine Züge, die geordnet waren means 'his features, which had been in order'.
16
stayed rearranged forever.
GrammarPast participle, rearranged umgestellt is the past participle of umstellen, 'to rearrange, to reposition'. blieben für immer umgestellt means 'stayed rearranged forever', with blieben, 'stayed', carrying the sense of remaining in that state.

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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