German · New Poems

Die Genesende

The Convalescent Woman

13 lines · 13 notes

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1
As a singing comes and goes in the lanes
WieAswie · subordinating conjunctiondepends on kommt
einaein · determiner, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on Singen
Singensingingsingen · noun, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on kommt
kommtcomeskommen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
undandund · conjunctiondepends on kommt
gehtgoesgehen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singulardepends on und
ininin · prepositiondepends on geht
GassenlanesGasse · noun, dative, feminine, pluraldepends on in
Worddie Gasse, plural Gassen die Gasse is a narrow street, alley, or lane, smaller than die Straße. Gassen here is dative plural after in, marking location. The -n is the regular plural ending, not an added dative marker.
2
and draws near and shies away again,
GrammarTwo reflexive verbs, sich nähern and sich scheuen Both verbs in this line are reflexive. sich nähern means 'to approach, draw near'. sich scheuen means 'to shy away, be wary, take fright'. Each takes sich as its reflexive pronoun and forms the whole meaning of the verb, not just an added object.
3
beating its wings, at times almost to be grasped,
WordA compound present participle flügelschlagend is coined from der Flügel, 'wing', plus schlagen, 'to beat', formed as a present participle: 'wing-beating, beating its wings'. German compounds a noun directly onto a verb stem this way to form a single adjective or adverb.
4
and then again scattered far out:
WordPast participle of hinausstreuen hinausstreuen means 'to scatter, strew outward', built from streuen, 'to strew, sprinkle', with the directional prefix hinaus-, 'out, away from here'. The past participle hinausgestreut, 'scattered outward', functions adjectivally here, alongside flügelschlagend, both describing das Singen from the first line.
5
so plays with the convalescent woman life itself;
GrammarDelayed subject das Leben The grammatical subject of this sentence is das Leben, 'life', held back to the very end of the line; spielt, 'plays', is the finite verb. mit der Genesenden is dative after mit. die Genesende is an adjectival noun from genesen, 'to recover, convalesce': 'the convalescing woman'.
6
while she, weakened and rested,
GrammarSubordinating while während means 'while', introducing a subordinate clause. It sends the finite verb to the end of its clause: sie... ist, understood, comes after geschwächt und ausgeruht, 'weakened and rested', which are past participles describing sie.
7
awkwardly, in order to give herself over,
Grammarum... zu, 'in order to' um... zu plus an infinitive expresses purpose, 'in order to'. Here the clause is split by hin-: um sich hinzugeben means 'in order to give herself over'. The infinitive particle zu is inserted between the separable prefix hin- and the verb geben.
8
makes an unaccustomed gesture.
WordUnaccustomed, out of habit ungewohnt means 'unaccustomed, unfamiliar', from gewohnt, 'accustomed', with the negating prefix un-. ungewohnte here is the accusative feminine singular form agreeing with Geste, 'gesture', the object of tut, 'makes'.
9
And she feels herself almost like a seduction,
WordThe noun for seduction die Verführung means 'seduction, temptation', from verführen, 'to seduce, lead astray'. Here it is the object of wie after fühlt sich, 'feels herself': sie fühlt sich... wie Verführung means 'she feels herself... like a seduction'.
10
when the hardened hand, within which
GrammarA shortened compound past participle hartgewordne is a shortened form of hartgewordene, from hart, 'hard', plus geworden, the past participle of werden, 'to become'. As a compound adjective it means 'grown hard, hardened', here modifying Hand, 'hand', in the nominative feminine singular.
11
fevers were, full of contradiction,
WordA noun for contradiction der Widersinn means 'contradiction, absurdity, nonsense', from wider-, 'against', plus Sinn, 'sense'. voller Widersinn means 'full of contradiction', with voller taking the genitive.
12
from far off, as with a blossoming touch,
WordFrom far away fernher means 'from far off, from a distance', built from fern, 'far', plus the directional -her, 'hither, toward here'. It modifies the verb kommen, 'comes', two lines later: the touch comes fernher, from far away.
13
comes to caress her hard chin.
Grammarkommen zu plus infinitive liebkosen means 'to caress, fondle'. kommen zu plus an infinitive expresses an action gradually arriving: zu liebkosen kommt means '[it] comes to caress'. The subject, ihr hartes Kinn, 'her hard chin', follows the verb at the end of the line.

The particulars

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