German · New Poems: The Other Part

Die Berufung

The Calling

14 lines · 15 notes

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1
But then, as into his hiding place the Exalted One,
Dathenda · adverbdepends on trat (die-berufung-s1-l2-w5)
aberbutaber · adverbdepends on Da
alsasals · subordinating conjunctiondepends on trat (die-berufung-s1-l2-w5)
inintoin · prepositiondepends on trat (die-berufung-s1-l2-w5)
seinhissein · determiner, accusative, neuter, singulardepends on Versteck
Versteckhiding placeVersteck · noun, accusative, neuter, singulardepends on in
dertheder · determiner, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on Hohe
HoheExalted Onehoch · noun, nominative, masculine, singularsubject of trat (die-berufung-s1-l2-w5)
GrammarA temporal clause introduced by als als, 'as, when', introduces a subordinate clause describing an action happening at the same time as the main clause. Da aber als in sein Versteck der Hohe ... trat means 'but then, as into his hiding place the Exalted One ... stepped'.
WordNaming the angel before Engel Hohe is the adjective hoch, 'high, exalted', used as a noun with the article der, 'the exalted one'. It names the angel before Engel is given explicitly two lines later.
2
at once recognizable: the angel, stepped
WordAdjective turned into a noun Erkennbare is the adjective erkennbar, 'recognizable', used as a noun, 'the recognizable one'. sofort Erkennbare means 'at once recognizable', naming the angel just before der Engel identifies him directly.
3
upright, the pure one and the blazing one,
WordThe blazing one, as noun lichterlohe is the adjective lichterloh, 'ablaze, all aflame', used as a noun paired with der lautere, 'the pure one'. Both nouns describe the angel: 'the pure one and the blazing one'.
4
then he laid aside all claim and begged,
GrammarSeparable verb, tat ... ab abtun means 'to lay aside, to dismiss'. As a separable verb it splits in the main clause: tat er allen Anspruch ab puts ab at the end, 'he laid aside all claim'.
5
to be allowed to stay, he who from his travels
GrammarModal verb, being allowed to bleiben zu dürfen combines the infinitive bleiben, 'to stay', with dürfen, 'to be allowed to'. It follows bat, 'begged', naming what the merchant asked permission for.
6
was inwardly bewildered, the merchant that he was;
GrammarAn adjective before its noun innen verwirrte Kaufmann means 'the merchant, inwardly bewildered'. verwirrte, 'bewildered', modifies Kaufmann directly, and der er war, 'that he was', restates what he in fact was, a merchant.
7
he had never read, and now of all things
WordAn intensifying particle gar here intensifies nun, 'now', adding emphasis close to 'of all things' or 'now especially'. und nun gar means 'and now, of all things', stressing how unlikely the situation is.
8
such a word — too much even for a wise man.
GrammarPreposition governing the accusative für, 'for', always takes the accusative case. einen Weisen, 'a wise man', is accusative singular after für: zu viel für einen Weisen means 'too much even for a wise man'.
9
The angel, though, imperious, pointed and pointed
WordRepeated verb for emphasis wies is the simple past, third-person singular, of weisen, 'to point, to indicate'. Repeating it, wies und wies, shows the action continuing insistently: 'pointed and pointed'.
10
to him at what stood written on his page,
GrammarAn idiom, stood written geschrieben stand combines the past participle geschrieben, 'written', with stand, the simple past of stehen, 'to stand'. Together the idiom means 'stood written, was written', naming what was on the page.
11
and did not relent and wanted again: read.
GrammarSeparable verb, gab ... nach nachgeben means 'to give way, to relent'. As a separable verb it splits: gab ... nach, 'did not relent' when negated by nicht, with the prefix nach landing after the negation.
12
Then he read — so, that the angel bent down,
GrammarMarking a result clause so, daß introduces a result clause: 'so, that ...'. It reports the outcome of the reading before it, sich der Engel bog, 'the angel bent down', as a consequence of what he read.
13
and he was already one who had read
GrammarRelative pronoun after one einer, 'one', is followed by der, a relative pronoun agreeing with it in gender and number, introducing the clause der gelesen hatte, 'who had read'. hatte is the auxiliary of the pluperfect.
14
and could and obeyed and carried it out.
WordSimple past, carried out vollzog is the simple past, third-person singular, of vollziehen, 'to carry out, to perform, to execute'. und konnte und gehorchte und vollzog lists three verbs in a row: 'could', 'obeyed', 'carried it out'.

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