German · New Poems

Die Erwachsene

The Grown Woman

17 lines · 15 notes

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1
All this stood upon her and was the world
DasThisder · determiner, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on alles
allesallalle · pronoun, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on stand
standstoodstehen · verb, past, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
aufuponauf · prepositiondepends on stand
ihrherihr · pronoun, dative, feminine, singulardepends on auf
undandund · conjunctiondepends on stand
warwassein · auxiliary verb, past, indicative, third-person, singulardepends on und
dietheder · determiner, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on Welt
WeltworldWelt · noun, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on war
Grammarstehen auf, weighing on stehen auf here means 'to weigh on, rest upon', not literal standing. stand is the past tense of stehen. auf ihr, 'upon her', takes the dative because it marks a fixed position, not motion toward a place.
2
and stood upon her with everything, dread and grace,
WordDread paired with grace die Angst means 'fear, dread, anxiety'; die Gnade means 'grace, mercy'. Both are dative here, in apposition to allem, 'everything', after mit: 'with everything, dread and grace'.
3
as trees stand, growing and upright,
GrammarA participle used adverbially wachsend is the present participle of wachsen, 'to grow', used here adverbially alongside gerade, 'upright, straight', to describe how Bäume, 'trees', stehen, 'stand'. German freely uses present participles this way without an ending.
4
wholly image and imageless like the Ark of the Covenant
5
and solemn, as if set up before a people.
GrammarAn elliptical comparison wie auf ein Volk gestellt means 'as though set up before a people', short for wie [wenn sie] auf ein Volk gestellt [wäre]. gestellt is the past participle of stellen, 'to place, set up', comparing her to a monument positioned before a crowd.
6
And she endured it; bore right up to the brim
Wordertrug and trug, two pasts of bearing ertrug is the past tense of ertragen, 'to endure, bear'; trug is the past tense of tragen, 'to carry, bear'. bis obenhin means 'right to the brim, all the way to the top', as of a vessel filled to its limit, to the very brim.
7
the flying, the fleeing, the far-off,
GrammarAdjectives turned into nouns Fliegende, Entfliehende, and Entfernte are present or past participles used as nouns, each capitalized and taking a neuter noun ending: 'the flying [thing]', 'the fleeing [thing]', 'the far-off [thing]'. German regularly turns participles into nouns this way, with das as their article.
8
the monstrous, the not-yet-learned,
WordAn adjective turned monstrous noun Ungeheuere is an adjective, 'monstrous, immense', turned into a noun by taking a capital letter and a neuter ending: 'the monstrous [thing]'. It stands alongside noch Unerlernte, 'the not-yet-learned', in the same list.
9
as calmly as the water-carrier
WordThe compound for water-carrier die Wasserträgerin means 'the water-carrier', a compound of Wasser, 'water', and Trägerin, the feminine form of Träger, 'carrier, bearer'. It names the woman she is compared to, calm as one accustomed to carrying a full jug.
10
her full jug. Until, in the midst of the play,
GrammarRight in the middle of the game mitten means 'in the middle of, in the midst'. unterm is a contraction of unter dem, 'under the'. das Spiel here means 'the play, the game' rather than a stage play. mitten unterm Spiel means 'in the very midst of the game'.
11
transforming her and readying her for other things,
Grammarvorbereitend, a participle used adverbially vorbereitend is the present participle of vorbereiten, 'to prepare', used adverbially alongside verwandelnd, 'transforming'. auf andres means 'for other things', with andres as an indefinite pronoun, 'something else'.
12
the first white veil, gently sliding,
13
fell over the opened face
WordAn elevated word for face das Antlitz is a literary, elevated word for 'face, countenance', more solemn than Gesicht. aufgetan is the past participle of auftun, 'to open up', here used as an adjective: 'the opened face'.
14
almost opaque and never lifting again
Grammarsich hebend, a reflexive participle hebend is the present participle of heben, 'to lift, raise'; with sich it means 'lifting itself'. sich nie mehr hebend means 'never lifting itself again', describing the face from the line before as it settles, unmoving.
15
and somehow, to all her questions,
Grammarauf... Fragen, answering to auf alle Fragen means 'to all questions', with auf marking what a response is directed toward. ihr, 'her', is a dative possessive here, modifying Fragen: 'her questions'. The clause's verb, wiedergebend, comes in the next line.
16
giving back only one vague answer:
GrammarA participle for giving back wiedergebend is the present participle of wiedergeben, 'to give back, return'. Paired with nur eine Antwort, 'only one answer', it describes the way she meets every question: by giving back one vague answer, and no more.
17
Within you, you who were a child, within you.
WordA coined address to a former child Kindgewesene is coined from Kind, 'child', plus gewesene, the past participle of sein used as an adjective, 'having been'. du Kindgewesene means 'you who once were a child', addressing the grown woman by the child she used to be.

The particulars

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