German · New Poems: The Other Part

Die Liebende

The Woman in Love

25 lines · 22 notes

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1
That is my window. Just now
DasThatder · pronoun, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on ist
istissein · auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
meinmymein · determiner, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on Fenster
FensterwindowFenster · noun, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on ist
EbenJust noweben · adverbdepends on erwacht
WordAdverb of time Eben here is the adverb of time, 'just now, a moment ago'. It marks something barely past and runs on into the next line, so 'just now I woke' reads as one clause across the break.
2
I woke so gently.
GrammarPerfect tense with sein erwachen, 'to wake up', is a change of state verb, so it forms its perfect with sein, not haben: ich bin erwacht, 'I woke'. bin is the finite verb in second position, and erwacht, the participle, goes to the end.
3
I thought I would be floating.
GrammarConditional with würde würde is the Konjunktiv II of werden. With an infinitive it builds the conditional: ich würde schweben, 'I would float'. It reports the dachte-clause before it. schweben means 'to float, hover'.
4
How far does my life reach,
GrammarFixed phrase for distance wohin is the directional question word 'to where'. bis wohin is a fixed phrase meaning 'up to where, how far'. The finite verb reicht, 'reaches', stays in second position after the question word.
5
and where does the night begin?
6
I could imagine all of it
WordModal softens a claim meinen here means 'to think, suppose', not 'to mean'. könnte is the Konjunktiv II of können, 'could', so ich könnte meinen is 'I could think, I could believe'. alles, 'everything', is its object.
7
were still me, all around;
GrammarSubjunctive in reported thought wäre is the Konjunktiv II of sein, 'to be': 'were'. It continues the könnte meinen clause as an unreal supposition rather than a statement of fact. ringsum means 'all around'.
8
transparent as a crystal's
GrammarGenitive ending in -es eines Kristalles is genitive singular, 'of a crystal', governing Tiefe, 'depth', in the next line. Masculine and neuter nouns add -s or -es in the genitive; Kristalles keeps the fuller, older -es form.
9
depth, darkened, mute.
WordPast participle used as adjective verdunkelt is the past participle of verdunkeln, 'to darken', built from dunkel, 'dark', with the prefix ver-. Used adjectivally after Tiefe it describes the crystal depth as 'darkened'.
10
I could even still the stars
11
hold within me; so great
WordInfinitive carried from an earlier line fassen means 'to grasp, hold, contain'. Its subject and modal, könnte, stand two lines above, so ich könnte ... die Sterne fassen in mir is 'I could hold the stars within me'. mir is dative 'me'.
12
my heart seems to me; so gladly
GrammarVerb takes a dative person scheinen means 'to seem, appear'; with a dative person it means 'to seem to someone'. so groß scheint mir mein Herz is 'so great does my heart seem to me'. mir is the dative of ich.
13
it let him go again,
GrammarSeparable verb split by the clause loslassen, 'to let go, release', is separable. The stem lasst, here liess, its past tense, stays in the verb slot, and the prefix los moves to the end: liess es ihn wieder los, 'let him go again'. ihn is accusative 'him'.
14
him whom I perhaps began to love,
GrammarAccusative relative pronoun den is the masculine accusative relative pronoun, 'whom', pointing back to ihn in the line before. The clause's finite verb, begann, is held to the end, and the zu-infinitives zu lieben and zu halten depend on it.
15
perhaps to hold began.
GrammarVerb governs a zu-infinitive beginnen, 'to begin', takes a zu-infinitive: zu lieben begann, zu halten begann, 'began to love', 'began to hold'. Because this clause is subordinate, opened by den, the finite verb begann is held to the very end.
16
Strange as never written of
WordCoined compound word niebeschrieben fuses nie, 'never', with beschrieben, the past participle of beschreiben, 'to describe, write down': 'never described, never written of'. fremd here means 'strange, unfamiliar'.
17
my fate looks at me.
GrammarSeparable verb with inverted subject ansehen, 'to look at', is separable: the stem sieht takes the verb slot and the prefix an goes to the end, sieht mich ... an, 'looks at me'. Because the sentence opens on an adverbial phrase, the subject mein Schicksal follows the verb.
18
What am I, laid out beneath
19
this infinity,
Grammarunter with the accusative unter, a two-way preposition, takes the accusative, diese Unendlichkeit, because the laying down implies placement rather than a fixed location. gelegt is the past participle of legen, 'to lay'.
20
fragrant as a meadow,
WordPresent participle of duften duftend is the present participle of duften, 'to give off fragrance, smell sweet'; der Duft is 'scent'. eine Wiese means 'a meadow'. The whole phrase, 'fragrant as a meadow', modifies the implied subject of the sentence.
21
moved this way and that,
WordFixed pair for movement hin und her is a fixed pair meaning 'to and fro, back and forth'; hin marks motion away, her motion toward. bewegt is the past participle of bewegen, 'to move'.
22
calling at once and afraid,
WordAdjective related to Angst bange means 'anxious, fearful, apprehensive', related to die Angst, 'fear'. rufend is the present participle of rufen, 'to call out'. zugleich means 'at the same time, at once'.
23
that someone may catch the call,
GrammarSubordinate clause with daß daß, 'that', subordinates the clause and sends its finite verb, vernimmt, to the end. vernehmen means 'to perceive, hear, catch a sound', more formal than hören. einer is 'someone', nominative subject; den Ruf, 'the call', is its object.
24
and for her undoing
WordNoun for downfall der Untergang means 'downfall, ruin, destruction', also the 'setting' of a star, from untergehen, 'to go down, sink'. zum Untergange is dative with the archaic -e ending, 'for, unto destruction'.
25
in another, ordained.
GrammarPast participle meaning destined bestimmt is the past participle of bestimmen, 'to determine, destine, ordain'; used predicatively it means 'destined, fated'. in einem andern, 'in another', is dative after in.

The particulars

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