German · New Poems

Die Treppe der Orangerie

The Steps of the Orangery

12 lines · 10 notes

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1
Like kings who in the end do nothing but pace
Wielikewie · adverbdepends on Könige
KönigekingsKönig · noun, nominative, masculine, pluraldepends on steigt
diewhoder · pronoun, nominative, masculine, pluraldepends on schreiten
schließlichin the endschließlich · adverbdepends on schreiten
nuronlynur · adverbdepends on noch
nochbutnoch · adverbdepends on schreiten
schreitenpaceschreiten · verb, present, indicative, third-person, pluraldepends on Könige
WordA verb for solemn walking schreiten is a strong verb meaning 'to walk with slow, measured steps', distinct from the plain gehen, 'to go'. It is present tense, third-person plural here, agreeing with die Könige, 'the kings', as its subject.
2
almost without aim, only now and then
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to show themselves, in the cloak's solitude,
GrammarParticiple used as a noun die Verneigenden, 'those bowing', is the present participle of sich verneigen, 'to bow', turned into a noun and declined like an adjective. Here it stands in the dative plural, den Verneigenden, as the indirect object of sich zeigen, 'to show oneself'.
4
to those who bow on either side—:
GrammarGenitive placed before its noun Modern German would put der Einsamkeit des Mantels last; here the genitive des Mantels is fronted before the noun it modifies, Einsamkeit, 'solitude'. This word order is older and more formal than ordinary prose.
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so climbs, alone between the balustrades
Grammarso answers wie so, 'thus', answers the wie, 'like', that opened the poem, completing the comparison. The verb steigt, 'climbs', comes first, but its subject die Treppe, 'the staircase', does not appear until later in the sentence.
6
that have been bowing from the very first,
WordAnbeginn, the very start Anbeginn is an elevated word for 'the very beginning', as in von Anbeginn der Welt, 'from the beginning of the world'. seit Anbeginn, 'since the very first', takes the dative after seit.
7
the staircase: slowly and by grace of God
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and toward the sky and nowhere at all;
Grammarzu and hin marking direction auf den Himmel zu means 'toward the sky', with zu placed after its noun to mark motion toward a goal. nirgends hin, 'to nowhere', uses hin, the particle for motion away from the speaker toward a destination.
9
as if it had commanded all who follow
Grammarals ob with the indicative als ob, 'as though', normally takes the subjunctive, here befähle. This line instead uses the plain past indicative befahl, 'had commanded'. allen Folgenden, 'to all those following', is dative because befehlen governs the dative.
10
to stay behind—so that they do not dare
Grammarzu inside a separable verb zurückbleiben, 'to stay behind', is separable. In its zu-infinitive the zu is inserted between prefix and stem and written as one word: zurück-zu-bleiben, giving zurückzubleiben.
11
to follow even from afar; not even
WordTo follow after nachgehen is a separable verb meaning 'to go after' or 'follow behind'; here it appears as the zu-infinitive nachzugehen. von ferne, 'from a distance', is a fixed adverbial phrase.
12
was anyone allowed to bear its heavy train.
WordThe heavy train die Schleppe is the trailing train of a robe, carried by attendants. durfte … tragen means 'was permitted to carry', with dürfen as the modal of permission and tragen, 'to bear', as its infinitive.

The particulars

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