German · New Poems

Der Ölbaumgarten

The Garden of Olives

29 lines · 28 notes

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1
He went up under the grey foliage
ErHeer · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on ging
gingwentgehen · verb, past, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
hinaufuphinauf · adverbdepends on ging
unterunderunter · prepositiondepends on ging
demtheder · determiner, dative, neuter, singulardepends on Laub
grauengreygrau · adjective, dative, neuter, singulardepends on Laub
LaubfoliageLaub · noun, dative, neuter, singulardepends on unter
GrammarSeparable prefix comes last Hinaufgehen means 'to go up'. In a main clause it splits: er ging hinauf, with the verb ging second and the prefix hinauf at the end. Hinauf marks motion up and away from the speaker.
2
all grey and dissolved in the olive ground,
WordPast participle used as adjective Aufgelöst is the past participle of auflösen, 'to dissolve, break up, undo', used here as an adjective. Grau und aufgelöst describes the subject, coordinated with grau. Ölgelände, lower cased here, means 'olive ground'.
3
and laid his forehead, covered in dust,
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deep into the dustiness of his hot hands.
WordA coined abstract noun Rilke nominalizes the phrase staubig sein, 'to be dusty', into one neuter noun, das Staubigsein, literally 'the being dusty'. German freely turns whole phrases into nouns this way. Here it names dust as a state rather than a mere coating.
GrammarIn plus accusative for motion In here governs the accusative, das Staubigsein, rather than the dative, because the motion is into something, not rest inside it. The accusative das, instead of dative dem, marks this as a movement toward, a laying down.
5
After everything, this. And this was the end.
WordThe end, the close Der Schluss, spelled der Schluß here, means 'the end, the close, the conclusion'. It stands alone as its own short sentence, set apart from the rest by the periods around dies.
6
Now I am to go, while I am going blind,
GrammarObligation laid on one The modal sollen expresses a duty imposed from outside: ich soll gehen means 'I am to go, I am supposed to go'. It marks the action as required of the speaker, not chosen by him.
GrammarSubordinating conjunction sends the verb last Während, 'while', is a subordinating conjunction, so its clause puts the finite verb at the end: während ich erblinde. Erblinden means 'to go blind, to lose one's sight'; the prefix er- marks entering a state.
7
and why do You will that I must say
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that You are, when I myself no longer find You.
GrammarSubjunctive for reported speech Seist is the Konjunktiv I of sein, 'to be', the subjunctive German uses to report a claim rather than assert it directly: 'that You are, that You exist'. It marks the statement as something said, not confirmed.
9
I no longer find You. Not in me, no.
GrammarNo longer, not anymore Nicht mehr means 'no longer, not any more'. It implies an earlier state that has ended: something was once found and now is not. The phrase repeats across the lines that follow.
10
Not in the others. Not in this stone.
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I no longer find You. I am alone.
12
I am alone with all of mankind's grief,
GrammarGenitive placed before its noun Aller Menschen is the genitive plural, 'of all people', placed before the noun it modifies, Gram, 'grief, sorrow'. This fronted genitive is literary word order; everyday German would say der Gram aller Menschen.
13
which through You I undertook to ease,
GrammarUnternehmen plus zu infinitive Unternahm is the simple past of unternehmen, 'to undertake, set about'; it governs an infinitive with zu: zu lindern unternahm, 'undertook to ease'. Lindern means 'to ease, alleviate' pain or grief. Den refers back to Gram, named just before.
14
You who are not, o nameless shame...
GrammarRelative clause of address Der Du nicht bist means literally 'you who are not'. The relative pronoun der reaches back to the addressed Du, and the verb bist stands at the end of its clause, as subordinate clauses require.
WordNameless, boundless Die Scham means 'shame'. Namenlos, 'nameless', here means boundless or unspeakable, so namenlose Scham means 'unutterable shame'. The line trails off into an ellipsis rather than closing.
15
Later it was told: an angel came—.
GrammarThe impersonal pronoun man Man is the impersonal pronoun, 'one, people, they', used for something said without naming who said it: erzählte man means 'people told, it was told'. It sets the following claim at a distance, since no witness is named.
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Why an angel? Ah, the night came
GrammarPlaceholder es with inversion Es here is a dummy subject filling the first slot; the real subject, die Nacht, follows the verb: es kam die Nacht, 'there came the night'. German uses this es frame to delay and highlight the true subject.
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and leafed indifferently through the trees.
WordTo leaf through, page through Blättern in means 'to leaf through, to page through' a book. Gleichgültig means 'indifferently, with indifference'. The verb plays on Blatt, which means both 'leaf' and 'page'.
18
The disciples stirred in their dreams.
WordDisciples, followers Der Jünger, plural die Jünger unchanged, is the word for a religious 'disciple, follower'. Sich rühren is the reflexive verb 'to stir, to move'. Here the disciples stir only inside their dreams.
19
Why an angel? Ah, the night came.
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The night that came was no uncommon one;
WordUncommon, extraordinary Ungemein means 'uncommon, extraordinary', literally 'not common'. Keine ungemeine is a double negative: 'not an extraordinary one', that is, an ordinary night. Gemein in its older sense means 'common, ordinary'.
21
hundreds like it pass by.
GrammarSeparable verb vorbeigehen Vorbeigehen, 'to pass by, go past', splits in a main clause: hunderte gehen vorbei, with the prefix vorbei at the end. Hunderte, 'hundreds', is used here as a bare plural noun.
22
There dogs are sleeping, and there stones lie.
GrammarDa fronted, verb inverts Da, 'there', opens the clause, so the verb comes before its subject: da schlafen Hunde, 'there sleep dogs'. German fronts an adverb like this and inverts word order to keep the verb in second position.
23
Ah, a sorrowful one, ah, just any one,
WordSome or other, just any Irgendein means 'some or other, just any'. Here, feminine to agree with Nacht, it appears alone as irgendeine, 'just any one'. It reduces the noun it stands for to an unspecified instance.
24
that waits until it be morning again.
GrammarSubjunctive sei after bis Sei is the Konjunktiv I of sein, used here after bis, 'until', for an event still awaited and not yet real: bis es wieder Morgen sei, 'until it be morning again'. Es wird Morgen is the impersonal idiom for 'morning comes'.
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For angels do not come to such prayers as these,
GrammarCoordinating conjunction, normal order Denn means 'for, because' and is a coordinating conjunction, so it does not send the verb to the end: denn Engel kommen nicht keeps normal word order, unlike the subordinating weil. Die Beter means 'those who pray, supplicants'.
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and nights do not grow great around such men.
GrammarWerden plus adjective, to become Werden plus an adjective means 'to become, to grow': Nächte werden groß means 'nights grow great, become grand'. Um solche means 'around such people'.
27
Those who lose themselves are let go by everything,
WordA nominalized reflexive verb Die Sich-Verlierenden is a nominalized present participle of the reflexive sich verlieren, 'to lose oneself': it means 'those who are losing themselves'. Rilke hyphenates the reflexive pronoun into the noun itself.
GrammarSeparable verb loslassen Loslassen, 'to let go, release', splits: alles läßt … los, 'everything lets go'. The object die Sich-Verlierenden is fronted before the verb, so the clause reads alles läßt die Sich-Verlierenden los, 'everything releases those who lose themselves'.
28
and they are given up by their fathers
WordTo give up, abandon Preisgeben means 'to give up, abandon, expose, surrender'. The passive sie sind preisgegeben von den Vätern means 'they are abandoned by the fathers'. Von marks the agent of the passive.
29
and shut out from the mothers' womb.
GrammarAusschließen aus plus dative Ausgeschlossen is the past participle of the separable verb ausschließen, 'to shut out, exclude', which governs aus plus dative. Der Mütter is the genitive plural, 'of the mothers', fronted before Schoß, 'lap, womb': aus der Mütter Schoß means 'from the mothers' womb'.

The particulars

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