German · New Poems: The Other Part

Die ägyptische Maria

Mary of Egypt

15 lines · 15 notes

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1
Since back then, bed-hot, when she, the whore,
SeitSinceseit · subordinating conjunctiondepends on floh
sieshesie · pronoun, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on floh
damalsback thendamals · adverbdepends on floh
bettheißbed-hotbettheiß · adjectivedepends on floh
alswhenals · subordinating conjunctiondepends on floh
dietheder · determiner, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on Hure
HurewhoreHure · noun, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on als
WordA coined compound Bettheiß welds Bett, 'bed', to heiß, 'hot': 'bed-hot', still warm from the bed. German freely fuses two words into a new adjective this way. Die Hure, 'the whore', names her former trade directly.
2
fled across the Jordan and, like a grave
GrammarA contracted preposition Übern fuses über, 'over, across', with the accusative article den: full form über den Jordan. The accusative marks motion across a boundary, here the river crossed in flight. The contraction is a clipped, spoken form.
3
giving, strong and unmixed, the pure
WordA negated participle as adverb Unvermischt, 'unmixed, undiluted', comes from vermischen, 'to blend', with the negating prefix un-. It depends on the present participle gebend, 'giving', in the same line, and reaches forward with stark, 'strong', and pure, 'pure', to modify Herz, 'heart', in the next line.
4
heart of eternity she gave to drink,
GrammarAn idiom for giving drink Jemandem etwas zu trinken geben is the fixed idiom 'to give someone something to drink'. Its object, Herz der Ewigkeit, 'heart of eternity', is held back across two lines before the verb gab, 'gave', closes the sentence.
5
her early state of self-surrender grew
WordSurrender made a noun Hingegebensein is built from the past participle of sich hingeben, 'to give oneself up, devote oneself', plus Sein, 'being': literally 'the state of being given-over'. German can pack a whole condition into one abstract neuter noun this way.
6
unstoppably to such a greatness on,
GrammarA separable verb The verb is anwachsen, 'to grow, increase'. Its prefix an is stranded on this line while the stem wuchs, 'grew', sits back on the line before. Unaufhaltsam, 'unstoppably', modifies the growing.
7
that at last, like the everlasting bareness
GrammarResult clause, verb to the end Daß, 'that, so that', opens a subordinate result clause: her surrender grew to such greatness that a consequence follows. In a daß-clause the finite verb moves to the very end, here dalag, which arrives only at the start of the next stanza.
8
of all, out of yellowed ivory
WordYellowed with age Vergilbtem is the past participle of vergilben, 'to turn yellow', as old paper or ivory does with time. Its dative ending -em follows aus, 'out of, made of': aus vergilbtem Elfenbein, 'of yellowed ivory.'
9
lay there in the husk of her dry hair.
GrammarThe held-back verb lands Dalag is the separable verb daliegen, 'to lie there', in the simple past: da, 'there', plus lag, 'lay'. It is the finite verb of the daß-clause begun two lines earlier, finally arriving here. Der dürren Haare Schelfe reverses normal order: 'the husk of the dry hair.'
10
And a lion circled; and an old man
GrammarAdjective used as a noun Alter here is the adjective alt, 'old', turned into a noun meaning 'an old man'. German capitalizes and inflects such adjectives like nouns. Kreiste, 'circled', past of kreisen, describes the lion's watchful movement.
11
called to it, beckoning, to help him out:
GrammarSeparable prefix and a subjunctive Rief ... an is the separable verb anrufen, 'to call to, hail', its prefix an stranded at the line's end. Helfe is the present subjunctive of helfen, 'to help', marking the old man's wish that the lion should help him; helfen also takes the dative, so ihm, 'him', is dative, not accusative.
12
(and so the two of them dug together.)
WordThe two together Zu zwein is an archaic, poetic form of zu zweit, 'as a pair, together, the two of them'. Gruben is the simple past of graben, 'to dig'; man and lion dig the grave together.
13
And the old man bent her down into it.
GrammarMotion 'into' from the speaker's view Hinein means 'into, in there': hin marks movement away from the speaker, ein the going-in. It functions like a separable element on neigte, 'bent, inclined': neigte ... hinein, 'bent her down into it.'
14
And the lion, like a heraldic bearer,
WordA heraldic compound Wappenhalter combines Wappen, 'coat of arms', and Halter, 'holder, bearer'. In heraldry a supporter is the figure, often a lion, that stands beside a shield holding it up. Wie ein Wappenhalter, 'like a heraldic bearer', describes the lion's fixed pose.
15
sat by it and held the stone.
GrammarAccusative object Den Stein, 'the stone', is the accusative object of hielt, past of halten, 'to hold': the masculine article shifts from der to den to mark what is held. Dabei means 'by it, alongside.'

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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