German · New Poems: The Other Part

Die Insel der Sirenen

The Island of the Sirens

20 lines · 19 notes

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1
When to those who had been his hosts,
WennWhenwenn · subordinating conjunctiondepends on berichtete (s1-l4)
erheer · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singularsubject of berichtete (s1-l4)
denenthoseder · pronoun, dative, pluraldepends on berichtete (s1-l4)
diewhoder · pronoun, nominative, pluraldepends on waren
ihmhiser · pronoun, dative, masculine, singulardepends on gastlich
gastlichhospitablegastlich · adverbdepends on waren
Idiom 'jemandem gastlich sein' = 'to play host to someone' — rendered here as 'had been his hosts.'
warenhad beensein · auxiliary verb, past, indicative, third-person, pluraldepends on die
WordHospitable to a guest Gastlich means 'hospitable, welcoming to a guest', built on Gast, 'guest'. Here die ihm gastlich waren means 'those who were hospitable to him', naming the hosts who once took the traveler in and to whom he now tells his story.
2
late, still after their day was done, when they
GrammarA conjunction meaning when Da is a temporal conjunction here, an elevated equivalent of als, 'when, as'. It opens the subordinate clause da sie fragten, 'when they asked', which continues across the next lines before its verb, fragten, arrives at the clause's end.
3
asked after his voyages and his perils,
GrammarAsking after something Fragen nach means 'to ask after, to ask about' and takes the dative: nach den Fahrten und Gefahren, 'after the voyages and perils'. The two nouns Fahrten and Gefahren sound alike, pairing 'journeys' and 'dangers' in one phrase.
4
quietly told them: he could never know,
GrammarOld spelling of wusste Wußte is the simple past of wissen, 'to know'. The ß follows the pre-1996 spelling; today it is written wusste, since the vowel before it is short. Er wußte nie, wie means 'he never knew how', opening the long indirect question that fills the next stanza.
5
how to alarm them, and with what abrupt
WordSudden or abrupt Jäh means 'sudden, abrupt, headlong'. Here it takes the ending jähen to agree with the dative noun Wort that follows in the next line: mit welchem jähen Wort, 'with what abrupt word'.
6
word to turn them, so that they, like him,
GrammarVerb pushed to clause end Daß, the old spelling of dass, 'so that', introduces a purpose clause whose conjugated verb is pushed all the way to the end, here sähen, four lines later. German regularly holds a clause's verb back like this across several lines.
7
upon the blue, becalmed sea of islands
WordStilled or becalmed Gestillt is the past participle of stillen, 'to still, to calm, to quiet', used here as an adjective meaning 'stilled, becalmed'. Das blau gestillte Inselmeer means 'the blue, becalmed sea of islands', with Inselmeer a compound of Insel, 'island', and Meer, 'sea'.
8
might see the gilding of those islands,
GrammarSubjunctive of sehen Sähen is Subjunctive II of sehen, 'to see', meaning 'would see' or 'might see'. It is the main verb of the daß-clause begun two lines earlier, so the sentence reads 'so that they might see the gilding of those islands'.
9
whose sight is what makes the danger
GrammarGenitive relative pronoun Deren is the genitive plural relative pronoun, meaning 'whose' or 'of which', and refers back to jener Inseln, 'those islands'. Deren Anblick means 'the sight of which' or 'whose sight', naming what makes the danger described in the next line.
10
turn over; for now it is not in the roaring
GrammarA separable verb in use Umschlagen means 'to turn over, to flip, to change abruptly', with the stressed prefix um-. In this subordinate clause the prefix stays attached and the verb stands last: daß die Gefahr umschlägt, 'that the danger turns over'.
11
and the raging, where it always was:
WordVerbs used as nouns Tosen, 'to roar or thunder', and wüten, 'to rage', are here capitalized and used as neuter nouns after im (in dem): im Tosen, im Wüten, 'in the roaring', 'in the raging'.
12
soundless it comes upon the sailors,
WordWithout any sound Lautlos means 'soundless, noiseless', formed from Laut, 'sound', plus the suffix -los, 'without'. Lautlos kommt sie über die Matrosen means 'soundless it comes upon the sailors'. Über die Matrosen takes the accusative for motion toward them.
13
who know that there, upon those
14
golden islands, something sometimes sings–,
GrammarAn impersonal construction Es singt is an impersonal construction: literally 'it sings', with no named subject doing the singing. It can be read as 'there is singing', naming the act of song without saying who performs it.
15
and blindly throw themselves against the oars,
WordWithout looking Blindlings means 'blindly, recklessly, without looking'. The suffix -lings forms adverbs of manner, as in rücklings, 'backwards'. Sich in die Ruder lehnen means 'to lean into the oars', a reflexive verb with in plus accusative.
16
as if encircled
WordSurrounded on all sides Umringt is the past participle of umringen, 'to surround, to ring around'. Wie umringt means 'as though surrounded'. Wie here works like als ob, introducing a comparison rather than asking a question.
17
by the stillness, which holds the whole expanse
WordAn open expanse Die Weite means 'the expanse, the open distance, vastness', from the adjective weit, 'wide, far'. Die ganze Weite, 'the whole expanse', is the accusative object of hat in the next line: the silence holds it in sich, 'within itself'.
18
within itself, and breathes against the ears,
WordTo blow or waft Wehen means 'to blow, to waft, to breathe', usually of wind. An die Ohren wehen means 'to waft against the ears'. The accusative phrase an die Ohren marks motion toward the ears.
19
as though its other side were nothing
GrammarAn unreal comparison So als wäre means 'as though it were' and triggers Subjunctive II: wäre is the past subjunctive of sein, 'to be'. Word order inverts after als in this construction, so the verb wäre comes before its subject, ihre andre Seite.
20
but the song that no one can resist.
GrammarA verb that takes the dative Widerstehen means 'to resist, to withstand' and governs the dative, so its object appears as the dative relative pronoun dem: der Gesang, dem keiner widersteht, 'the song that no one resists'. Gesang means 'song'.

The particulars

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