German · New Poems

Die Fensterrose

The Rose Window

14 lines · 14 notes

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1
In there: the sluggish padding of their paws
Dathereda · adverbdepends on drin
drininsidedrin · adverbhead of the phrase
dastheder · determiner, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on Treten
trägesluggishträge · adverbdepends on Treten
Tretenpaddingtreten · noun, nominative, neuter, singularhead of the phrase
ihrertheirihr · determiner, genitive, feminine, pluraldepends on Tatzen
TatzenpawsTatze · noun, genitive, feminine, pluraldepends on Treten
WordColloquial word for inside da drin is a colloquial contraction of da drinnen, 'in there, inside there'. da is the adverb 'there', and drin, 'inside', is the head of the phrase. Together they set the scene inside an enclosed space with no further introduction.
WordAn adverb meaning sluggish träge is an adverb meaning slow, listless, heavy with inertia, and it modifies the noun Treten, 'padding, treading'. Treten is a noun formed from the verb treten, 'to tread'. Tatzen is the plural of Tatze, the paw of a large animal.
2
makes a stillness that almost bewilders you;
GrammarThe accusative pronoun for you verwirren, 'to confuse, bewilder', takes a direct object in the accusative case, here dich, 'you'. The relative pronoun die stands for eine Stille and is the subject of verwirrt. So die dich fast verwirrt means 'that nearly bewilders you'.
3
and how then suddenly one of the cats
Grammarwie meaning how Here wie means 'how, the way in which' rather than 'as', and it opens a subordinate clause. In a subordinate clause the finite verb moves to the end, so the main verb of this clause is delayed until later in the sentence. dann and plötzlich, 'then' and 'suddenly', both describe when the action happens.
4
the gaze upon her, which wanders here and there,
WordWandering, now and then hin und wieder is a fixed idiom meaning 'now and then, occasionally'; both hin and wieder depend on the verb irrt. This is not the idiom hin und her, 'back and forth', so the grammar supports a wandering that happens at intervals, not one that moves side to side.
5
seizes violently into her great eye, —
GrammarThe sentence's main verb arrives nimmt is the third person singular present of nehmen, 'to take', and it is the main verb the sentence has been building toward. In ihr großes Auge is accusative, marking motion into the eye. Gewaltsam, 'forcibly, violently', describes how the taking happens.
6
the gaze, which as if by a whirlpool's ring
GrammarA genitive placed before its noun eines Wirbels is genitive, 'of a whirlpool', and normal word order would put it after its noun as der Kreis eines Wirbels. Here it is fronted before Kreis instead, an older and more formal pattern. Wirbel means a whirl, eddy, or vortex.
7
seized, swims for a little while
WordPast participle with two senses ergriffen is the past participle of ergreifen, 'to seize, to grasp, to take hold of'. It describes something physically gripped or held. The same word also means emotionally 'moved, stirred', so it can carry both senses at once.
8
and then sinks down and knows no more of itself,
GrammarTo know of oneself von sich wissen literally means 'to know of oneself', that is, to be conscious or aware. nichts mehr von sich wissen means 'to know nothing more of oneself', to lose all self-awareness. weiß, from wissen, depends on und and takes sich as the object of the preposition von.
9
when this eye, which seems to rest,
WordAn adverb meaning apparently scheinbar means 'apparently, seemingly' and, unlike anscheinend, implies the appearance may be false. It modifies the verb ruht, 'rests', in the clause welches scheinbar ruht, 'which seems to rest'. Welches is the relative pronoun agreeing with the neuter noun Auge.
10
opens itself wide and claps shut with a roar
GrammarA separable verb stays fused zusammenschlagen, 'to clap or slam shut', is a separable-prefix verb. In this clause it is joined by und to auftut, so the whole verb zusammenschlägt stays together rather than splitting its prefix off. mit Tosen means 'with a roaring', describing the noise as it shuts.
11
and tears him in, down into the red blood — :
GrammarPrefix meaning into hineinreißen means 'to tear inward, to drag in', combining the directional prefix hinein, 'into, away from the speaker', with reißen, 'to rip, to wrench'. ihn is the accusative pronoun 'him'. bis ins rote Blut means 'right into the red blood', marking how far the tearing goes.
12
so once, out of the dark of being,
GrammarPast tense marks a shift so means 'thus, in just this way' and depends on the verb griffen. griffen is the past tense of greifen, 'to seize', third person plural, so the verb tense shifts from present to past here. einstmals is a literary word for 'once, in former times', and Dunkelsein is a compound noun literally meaning 'dark-being'.
13
the cathedrals' great rose windows
14
a heart, and tore it up into God.
GrammarA doubled directional phrase rissen is the simple past plural of reißen, 'to tear', taking es, 'it', as its object. In Gott hinein combines the preposition in with the adverb hinein, both marking motion inward, to say 'into God'. Repeating the direction with in and hinein together stresses the motion going all the way inside.

The particulars

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