German · New Poems

Der Platz

The Square

15 lines · 15 notes

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1
Arbitrarily widened out of what has been:
Willkürlicharbitrarilywillkürlich · adverbdepends on ausgeweitet
vonout ofvon · prepositiondepends on ausgeweitet
Gewesnemwhat has beenGewesenes · noun, dative, neuter, singulardepends on von
ausgeweitetwidenedausweiten · verb, participlemain verb of the sentence
GrammarA participle made into a noun Gewesnem is a syncopated form of gewesen, the past participle of sein, 'to be'. Capitalized, it becomes the neuter noun das Gewesene, 'that which has been'. The -em ending is dative, governed by von, giving 'widened out of what has been'.
2
out of rage and revolt, out of the motley jumble
WordAn adjective turned into a noun kunterbunt is normally an adjective meaning 'higgledy-piggledy, motley'. Here it is capitalized and used as a noun, das Kunterbunt, 'the jumble, the motley confusion'. It stands in the dative after von, continuing the 'out of' phrases from the lines above.
3
that escorts the condemned to their death,
WordA participle as a noun verurteilt is the past participle of verurteilen, 'to condemn, sentence'. Capitalized, it becomes a noun, die Verurteilten, 'the condemned'. Here it is accusative plural, the object of begleitet, 'accompanies, escorts'.
4
out of stalls, out of the fairground criers' mouths,
WordA compound noun with a linking s der Jahrmarktsrufer joins der Jahrmarkt, 'fair, annual market', and der Rufer, 'crier, caller', with a linking -s-, giving 'fairground crier'. der Jahrmarktsrufer Mund is a genitive plural before its noun: 'the fairground criers' mouths'.
5
and out of the duke who comes riding past,
GrammarSeparable verb vorüberreiten vorüberreiten, 'to ride past', is separable: vorüber-, 'past, by', plus reiten, 'to ride'. In this relative clause the verb goes to the end and reassembles as vorüberreitet: der vorüberreitet means 'who rides past'.
6
and out of the high pride of Burgundy,
WordA von phrase in the genitive chain der Hochmut means 'arrogance, haughtiness', literally 'high mood'. It stands in the dative after von, and a second von phrase, von Burgund, depends on Hochmut itself, giving 'the pride of Burgundy'.
7
(on every side a backdrop):
Wordauf allen Seiten plus a noun der Hintergrund means 'background, backdrop'. auf allen Seiten means 'on all sides, on every side', with Seiten in the dative after auf. Hintergrund itself stands in the nominative as the head of this short clause.
8
the square invites, to the entry of its expanse,
GrammarSeparable verb einladen split apart The main verb is the separable einladen, 'to invite'. Its finite stem appears here as ladet, an older form of lädt, while the prefix ein is placed at the end of the next line. der Platz, 'the square', is the subject.
9
the far-off windows ceaselessly in,
WordAn adverb built with un- unaufhörlich means 'unceasing, incessant', built from un-, 'not', and aufhören, 'to cease, stop'. Here it functions as an adverb modifying ladet: the square invites ceaselessly. die fernen Fenster is the accusative object of that verb.
10
while the retinue and escort
GrammarA conjunction that delays the verb während, 'while', is a subordinating conjunction, so the finite verb of its clause moves to the very end, here verteilt und ordnet two lines down. sich is the reflexive pronoun of that verb, placed early in the clause.
11
of the emptiness slowly along the rows of shops
WordA noun in the genitive die Leere means 'the emptiness, the void', the noun form of leer, 'empty'. The genitive der Leere means 'of the emptiness' and depends on Gefolge, 'retinue'. an den Handelsreihn means 'along the rows of shops'.
12
spread and arrange themselves. Climbing into the gables,
GrammarThe held-back verbs land verteilt and ordnet are the two finite verbs the während clause has been waiting for: sich verteilen, 'to spread out', and ordnen, 'to arrange', sharing the reflexive sich from the earlier line. Both are third-person singular present.
13
the little houses want to see everything,
GrammarModal wollen plus bare infinitive wollen, 'to want', is a modal verb and takes a bare infinitive, here sehn, a shortened form of sehen, 'to see', placed at the end of the clause. die kleinen Häuser is the subject and alles the accusative object of sehn.
14
shyly keeping the towers secret from one another,
Grammarverschweigen as a present participle verschweigen means 'to keep silent about, conceal from someone'. Its present participle verschweigend functions adverbially here, describing how the houses act. die Türme is the accusative object, and voreinander means 'from one another'.
15
which forever stand, immense, behind them.
WordBuilt from Maß plus los maßlos means 'measureless, boundless', from das Maß, 'measure', and the suffix -los, 'without'. It functions as an adverb modifying stehn. die is a relative pronoun referring back to die Türme, 'the towers'.

The particulars

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