German · New Poems

Der Tod des Dichters

The Death of the Poet

14 lines · 12 notes

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1
He lay. His upturned countenance was
Erheer · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singularsubject of lag
laglayliegen · verb, past, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
Seinhissein · determiner, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on Antlitz
aufgestelltesupturnedaufgestellt · adjective, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on Antlitz
AntlitzcountenanceAntlitz · noun, nominative, neuter, singularsubject of war
warwassein · auxiliary verb, past, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
WordAn elevated word for face Das Antlitz is a high, literary word for 'face' or 'countenance', more formal than the everyday Gesicht. Aufgestellt, 'propped up, set upright', is the past participle of aufstellen used as an adjective.
2
pale and refusing among the steep pillows,
GrammarPresent participle as adjective Verweigernd is the present participle of verweigern, 'to refuse, deny', formed by adding -d to the infinitive and used here as an adjective, like an English -ing form. German can form such participles freely but uses them as predicate adjectives less often than English does.
3
ever since the world and this knowing-of-it,
GrammarA conjunction that delays the verb Seitdem, 'ever since, since then', is here a subordinating conjunction, so it sends the finite verb to the very end of its clause. That verb, zurückfiel, does not arrive until two lines later.
4
torn loose from his senses,
GrammarPast participle of a separable verb Abgerissen is the past participle of the separable verb abreißen, 'to tear off, tear away', built from ab- plus reißen, 'to tear'. With von seinen Sinnen, 'from his senses', it describes something being torn away from perception. The dative seinen Sinnen is governed by von.
5
fell back into the indifferent year.
WordWithout taking part Teilnahmslos means 'apathetic, indifferent, unmoved', literally 'without taking part'. It is built from Teilnahme, 'participation, also sympathy', plus the privative suffix -los, '-less'.
6
Those who saw him living did not know
GrammarSo as an old relative pronoun Die, so ihn leben sahen means 'those who saw him live'. Here so is an older, poetic relative pronoun standing for welche or die, 'who'. Sahen, 'saw', plus the bare infinitive leben forms an accusative and infinitive construction, 'saw him live', just as in English.
7
how wholly he was one with all of this,
GrammarTo be one with Er war eines mit allem diesen means 'he was one with all of this'. Eines is the neuter number 'one' used as a predicate, naming a single, unified state, and mit governs the dative allem diesen.
8
for this: these depths, these meadows
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and these waters were his face.
WordThe plain word for face Das Gesicht is the ordinary word for 'face', plainer than the lofty Antlitz used earlier in the poem. Gesicht can also mean 'vision' in older German.
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O his face was this whole expanse,
WordVastness, an open expanse Die Weite is the noun formed from the adjective weit, 'wide, far': 'expanse, breadth, open distance'. Diese ganze Weite means 'this whole expanse'.
11
which even now wants to reach him and woos him;
WordUm jemanden werben, to court Um jemanden werben means 'to court someone, to woo, to seek to win them over'. Zu ihm will, 'wants to go to him', uses will as the full verb wollen, 'to want', not as an auxiliary, with zu ihm giving the destination.
12
and his mask, which now fearfully dies away,
WordA formal verb for dying Versterben is a formal, elevated verb for dying, closer to 'to pass away, to expire' than the plain sterben. The prefix ver- adds a sense of fading or completing the act. Bang, 'anxious, fearful', is an adverb here, 'fearfully'.
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is tender and open like the inner side
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of a fruit that spoils in the open air.
GrammarA strong verb with vowel change Verdirbt is the third person singular of verderben, 'to spoil, go bad, perish'. It is a strong verb whose stem vowel shifts from e to i in the present singular: ich verderbe, but er verdirbt, the same pattern as geben and gibt.

The particulars

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