German · New Poems: The Other Part

Die Laute

The Lute

12 lines · 14 notes

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1
I am the lute. If you would set my body
IchIich · pronoun, nominative, singulardepends on bin
binamsein · auxiliary verb, present, indicative, first-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
dietheder · determiner, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on Laute
LauteluteLaute · noun, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on bin
Willstwould youwollen · verb, present, indicative, second-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
duyoudu · pronoun, nominative, singulardepends on Willst
meinenmymein · determiner, accusative, masculine, singulardepends on Leib
LeibbodyLeib · noun, accusative, masculine, singulardepends on beschreiben
WordThe lute, an instrument die Laute is the lute, the pear-bodied, fretted string instrument of the Renaissance, not to be confused with der Laut, 'a sound', or laut, 'loud'.
WordThe living body der Leib means 'body' in the sense of the living, fleshly body, unlike der Körper, a more neutral or anatomical 'body'. meinen Leib is accusative, object of beschreiben in the next line.
2
in words, its lovely curving, swelling ribs:
WordVaulted, curving ribs gewölbt is the past participle of wölben, 'to arch, vault, curve outward', used as an adjective. die Streifen here are the curved staves or ribs of a lute's rounded back.
3
speak as you would were you to speak of a ripe
GrammarAls plus subjunctive comparison als sprächest du means 'as though you were speaking'. als introduces an unreal comparison and takes the subjunctive II; sprächest is the subjunctive II of sprechen, 'to speak'.
4
and swelling fig. Exaggerate
GrammarA clipped imperative Übertreib is the imperative of übertreiben, 'to exaggerate, overdo', with the usual -e ending dropped, übertreib for übertreibe, as German allows in speech and verse.
5
the darkness that you see in me. It was
GrammarDas used twice, article then pronoun The first das is the neuter article of das Dunkel, 'the darkness'; the second das is the relative pronoun 'that, which', opening das du in mir siehst, 'that you see in me'.
6
Tullia's darkness once. Within her shame
WordShame, and a body sense die Scham means 'shame, modesty', but it is also an old, discreet word for the sexual parts, compare Schamgegend, the pudendal region. In ihrer Scham means 'within her shame'.
7
there was not so much, and her lit-up hair
WordLit up, brightened erhellt is the past participle of erhellen, 'to light up, illuminate, brighten', used as an adjective: ihr erhelltes Haar, 'her brightened, lit-up hair', nominative, agreeing with Haar.
8
was like a hall of light. At times she drew
WordA great hall der Saal is a large hall or grand room, a ballroom or concert hall, not an ordinary Zimmer. war wie ein heller Saal means 'was like a bright hall'.
GrammarFronted adverb, verb second zuweilen means 'at times, now and then', an elevated word for manchmal. Placed first, it pushes the finite verb nahm, simple past of nehmen, 'to take', into second position.
9
some sound up from my surface to her face
WordResonant sound der Klang is sound as resonance or timbre, richer than the neutral das Geräusch, a mere noise. etwas Klang von meiner Oberfläche means 'some sound from my surface'.
10
and sang to me.
GrammarAccusative marks motion into in here governs the accusative ihr Gesicht, 'her face', marking motion toward: 'into her face'. With the dative in ihrem Gesicht it would instead mean rest, 'in her face'.
11
Then I would tauten myself against her weakness,
GrammarTo tense, to draw taut spannen means 'to stretch, to tension, to draw taut'; reflexive sich spannen means 'to tense oneself'. gegen, 'against', takes the accusative ihre Schwäche, 'her weakness, faintness'.
12
and at the last my inwardness was in her.
WordThe inside, the inner self das Innere is a nominalized adjective meaning 'the inside, the interior, one's inner being'. mein Inneres means 'my inner part, my inmost self'. in ihr is dative, marking rest.

The particulars

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