German · New Poems: The Other Part

Die Schwestern

The Sisters

12 lines · 12 notes

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1
See how they bear the very same potentials
SiehSeesehen · verb, imperative, second-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
wiehowwie · subordinating conjunctiondepends on tragen
sietheysie · pronoun, nominative, pluraldepends on tragen
dieselbenthe samederselbe · determiner, accusative, feminine, pluraldepends on Möglichkeiten
MöglichkeitenpotentialsMöglichkeit · noun, accusative, feminine, pluraldepends on tragen
GrammarThe very same, in two parts derselbe, dieselbe, dasselbe means 'the very same one', stressing identity rather than likeness. It declines in two halves: the article half agrees in case, the adjective half takes the weak ending. Here dieselben is feminine accusative plural, agreeing with Möglichkeiten, 'possibilities'.
2
upon themselves, and grasp them, otherwise —
WordAn idiom for wearing something etwas an sich tragen means 'to carry or wear something about one, to have it upon oneself'. anders, 'differently, otherwise', governs the whole verb, so each sister carries the same possibilities in a different way. verstehn is the poetic short form of verstehen.
3
as if one watched two different ages move
Grammarals plus subjunctive, no ob sähe is the Konjunktiv II, past subjunctive, of sehen, 'to see', used after so als, 'as though', to mark a comparison as imagined. In this short form the verb follows als directly, before the subject man, 'one'. verschiedne contracts verschiedene, 'different'.
4
across two rooms that are alike.
Wordgleich meaning identical gleich here is the adjective 'alike, equal, identical', not the common adverb gleich meaning 'soon, at once'. zwei gleiche Zimmer means 'two identical rooms', completing the simile of two different ages moving through the same setting.
5
Each thinks that she is propping up the other,
Grammarmeinen plus a zu-infinitive meinen means 'to think, believe, suppose'; with a zu-infinitive it reports the subject's own belief about her action: Jede meint ... zu stützen means 'each believes she is propping up the other'. jede means 'each one', standing for the sisters.
6
while in truth she leans on her, worn out;
Grammarwährend with doch for contrast während is the subordinating conjunction 'while, whereas', so its verb ruht goes to the end of the clause. The particle doch adds 'yet, in fact', marking a contrast: während sie doch ... ruht means 'while she in fact rests on her'.
7
and neither one can be of use to the other,
GrammarA reciprocal pronoun with dative einander is the invariable reciprocal pronoun 'one another, each other'; it never declines. nützen, 'to be of use, benefit', takes a dative object, so einander nützen means 'to be of use to one another'.
8
for they lay blood upon blood,
WordBlood repeated for emphasis Blut means 'blood', doubled here as Blut auf Blut, 'blood upon blood'. As sisters they share one blood, so stacking like upon like adds nothing new, only more of the same weakness.
9
when, as before, they gently touch each other
Grammarwenn holding its verb to the end wenn, 'when, whenever', sends its verb berühren to the end of the clause. The reflexive sich reads reciprocally here, sie berühren sich meaning 'they touch one another', with sanft, 'gently', modifying berühren.
10
and try, on down the avenue of trees,
Wordentlang following its noun die Allee is a tree-lined avenue, from French allée, not just any street. entlang, 'along', is a postposition here, following its noun in the accusative: die Allee entlang means 'along the avenue'.
11
to feel themselves both led and leading on:
GrammarTwo zu-infinitives on one verb Two zu-infinitives depend on versuchen, 'to try', from the line above: sich geführt zu fühlen means 'to feel oneself led', with geführt, the past participle of führen, used passively; zu führen means 'to lead'. The reflexive sich belongs to fühlen, 'to feel'.
12
ah, they do not share the same way of walking.
WordGang, a word for gait der Gang means 'walk, gait, the way one moves', from gehen, 'to go, walk'. denselben Gang uses derselbe again, masculine accusative: 'the very same gait'. The line states plainly that the sisters cannot keep step with each other.

The particulars

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