German · New Poems: The Other Part

Die Anfahrt

The Approach

14 lines · 23 notes

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1
Was it in the carriage's turning, this sweep?
Warwassein · verb, past, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
ininin · prepositiondepends on War
destheder · determiner, genitive, masculine, singulardepends on Wagens
Wagenscarriage'sWagen · noun, genitive, masculine, singulardepends on Wendung
WendungturningWendung · noun, accusative, feminine, singulardepends on in
dieserthisdieser · determiner, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on Schwung
SchwungsweepSchwung · noun, nominative, masculine, singularsubject of War
GrammarGenitive placed before its noun des Wagens is the genitive of der Wagen, 'the carriage', giving 'the carriage's'. Older German word order puts a genitive before the noun it modifies, so in des Wagens Wendung means 'in the carriage's turning' rather than the modern in der Wendung des Wagens.
GrammarVerb-first yes-no question German questions with a yes-or-no answer put the finite verb first: War in des Wagens Wendung dieser Schwung? literally 'Was in the carriage's turning this sweep?' The subject dieser Schwung, 'this sweep', is held to the end of the sentence.
2
Was it in the gaze with which one took the baroque
GrammarPronoun points back to Schwung er, 'it', is the masculine pronoun standing for der Schwung named in the line before, since Schwung is masculine. War er im Blick...? repeats the question with a new location, 'was it in the gaze...?' mit dem, 'with which', opens a relative clause whose verb comes several lines later.
GrammarThe impersonal one man is the impersonal pronoun 'one, you, people in general', always paired with a singular verb. It keeps the person doing the looking unnamed: mit dem man die barocken Engelfiguren ... annahm means 'with which one took in the baroque angel-figures'.
3
angel-figures that, among blue bells,
WordAngel statues, a compound noun Engelfiguren compounds Engel, 'angel', and Figuren, 'figures, statues', giving 'angel-statues'. bei blauen Glocken means 'among blue bells', the bell-shaped flowers growing at their feet, not church bells.
4
stood in the field, full of remembrance,
GrammarOld dative ending -e im Felde is in dem Felde, 'in the field'. Feld is neuter and takes the dative for a fixed location, and older, poetic German adds the ending -e to such datives, as in im Jahre or zu Hause. standen, 'stood', is plural to agree with the angel-figures.
WordFull of, with no article voll, 'full', here governs Erinnerung, 'memory, remembrance', directly, without an article: voll Erinnerung, 'full of remembrance'. This bare construction after voll is ordinary German and reads as terse rather than incomplete.
5
one took up and held and let go again, before
GrammarThree verbs close the clause annahm, hielt, and wieder ließ are three past-tense verbs that finally close the relative clause opened by mit dem two lines earlier: 'took in and held and let go again'. annehmen, 'to take in, accept', is separable, and its prefix an- rejoins the stem here.
6
the castle-park, closing in, pressed about the drive,
WordCastle grounds, old spelling kept Schloß, 'castle, manor', plus Park gives Schloßpark, the landscaped grounds around the great house. Modern spelling writes Schlosspark; Rilke's ß is kept exactly. schließend, 'closing', in the same line comes from the related root schließen, 'to close'.
GrammarReflexive verb, verb-final clause sich drängen means 'to press, crowd, throng', and um ... sich drängen is 'to press around something'. Inside this bevor-clause the finite verb drängte, 'pressed', stands at the very end: bevor der Schloßpark ... um die Fahrt sich drängte, 'before the castle-park pressed around the drive'.
7
which it grazed, which it overhung,
GrammarStreifen an takes accusative streifen, 'to brush, graze', takes an plus the accusative for brushing against something. an die is the accusative relative pronoun reaching back to die Fahrt, 'the drive': an die er streifte means 'which it grazed'. er, 'it', is der Schloßpark from the line before.
WordTo hang over something überhängen here means 'to hang over, overhang'. die er überhängte, 'which it overhung', is a second relative clause stacked on the first, both describing the park's trees leaning out over the drive.
8
and suddenly released: for there was the gate,
GrammarSeparable verb stays fused freigeben, 'to set free, release', is separable with the prefix frei-. In the past tense it is normally gab ... frei, but chained by und to the earlier verbs it stays joined here as freigab, 'released'. denn, 'for, because', is coordinating, so it does not send its verb to the end.
9
which now, as though it had called out to her,
GrammarUnreal comparison in subjunctive als hätte is 'as though it had', using Konjunktiv II of haben for an unreal comparison. After als in this sense the verb comes first, so als hätte es sie angerufen rather than als ob es sie angerufen hätte. angerufen is the past participle of separable anrufen, 'to call to, summon': the whole means 'as though it had summoned her'.
10
compelled the long front to a swerve,
GrammarZwingen zu takes dative zwingen, 'to force, compel', takes zu plus the dative for what one is forced into: zu einer Schwenkung zwang means 'forced to a swerve'. zwang, 'compelled', closes the long relative clause that began a line earlier, with die lange Front as its object.
WordA wide wheeling turn Schwenkung, from schwenken, 'to swing, wheel', names a wide swinging turn, the kind a line of horses makes when it pivots. It shares its root sense with Schwung, 'sweep', and Wendung, 'turn', from the opening lines.
11
after which she stood still. Flashing bright, a gliding ran
GrammarAfter which, temporal nach nach plus the dative here means 'after' in time; der is the dative relative pronoun pointing back to Schwenkung, 'swerve'. nach der sie stand means 'after which she stood still', sie being the carriage.
WordFlashing bright, present participle aufglänzend is the present participle of aufglänzen, 'to flash, gleam up', used as an adverb, 'flashing brightly'. ein Gleiten turns the verb gleiten, 'to glide', into a neuter noun, 'a gliding'.
12
the glass door downward; and a greyhound burst
GrammarAccusative of path plus abwärts die Glastür, 'the glass door', is the accusative path the gliding runs along, and abwärts, 'downward', is the adverb of direction. Read together: ein Gleiten ging die Glastür abwärts, 'a gliding ran down the glass door'.
WordWind-hound, the greyhound Windhund literally means 'wind-hound', the German word for a greyhound or sighthound, the long lean dog of an aristocratic household. Its sudden appearance from the opening door is the only fully animate motion in the scene.
13
out of its opening, carrying its near flanks
WordVerb made into a noun Aufgehn is the verb aufgehen, 'to open, swing open', turned into a neuter noun, 'the opening'. aus ihrem Aufgehn, 'out of its opening', refers to die Glastür, 'the glass door', so the greyhound surges out at the moment the door opens.
GrammarAccusative object held back seine nahen Seiten, 'its near flanks', is the accusative object of heruntertragend in the next line. nah, 'near, close', describes the lean dog's sides held close to its body, and the phrase is held over the line break before its verb arrives.
14
down from the shallow steps.
GrammarPresent participle of descent heruntertragend is the present participle of heruntertragen, 'to carry down', with the prefix herunter-, 'down, toward the speaker'. It governs seine nahen Seiten from the line before: 'carrying its near flanks down from the shallow steps'. flach, 'flat, shallow', describes the low steps of the house.

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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