German · New Poems: The Other Part

Ein Doge

A Doge

14 lines · 22 notes

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1
Foreign envoys saw how they were stingy
Fremdeforeignfremd · adjective, nominative, pluraldepends on Gesandte
GesandteenvoysGesandte · noun, nominative, pluraldepends on sahen
sahensawsehen · verb, past, indicative, third-person, pluralmain verb of the sentence
wiehowwie · subordinating conjunctiondepends on geizten
sietheysie · pronoun, nominative, pluraldepends on geizten
geiztenwere stingygeizen · verb, past, indicative, third-person, pluraldepends on sahen
WordEnvoy, ambassador der Gesandte, 'envoy, emissary, ambassador', is a noun made from the past participle of senden, 'to send', literally 'the one sent', so it declines like an adjective: fremde Gesandte, 'foreign envoys'.
WordTo be stingy, to stint geizen, 'to be miserly, to stint, to begrudge', comes from der Geiz, 'avarice'. wie sie geizten mit ihm means 'how they stinted with him'. wie here is the conjunction 'how', not the question word.
2
with him and with all that he did;
GrammarPreposition mit governs dative geizen mit etwas means 'to be sparing with something', and mit always governs the dative: mit ihm, 'with him', mit allem, dative of alles, 'with everything'.
3
while they were goading him toward his greatness,
GrammarWhile clause sends verb last während, 'while, whereas', is a subordinating conjunction, so its finite verb reizten, 'goaded, provoked', is pushed to the clause's end: während sie ihn zu seiner Größe reizten, 'while they goaded him toward his greatness'.
WordTo goad toward something reizen means 'to provoke, incite, stimulate'; with zu plus dative it means 'to spur, goad someone toward' something: zu seiner Größe, 'toward his greatness' (dative seiner Größe).
4
they hemmed the golden Dogeship around
GrammarVerb-second after a clause After the subordinate während-clause, the main clause inverts: the verb umstellten comes first and the subject sie follows. umstellen, stressed on -stéllen, is inseparable and means 'to surround, encircle, hem in'.
5
with spies and restrainers, more and more,
WordWatchers and restrainers der Späher, 'scout, watcher, spy', from spähen, 'to peer, scout', and der Beschränker, 'one who limits, curtails', from beschränken, are both dative plural after mit. immer mehr means 'more and more'.
6
afraid that the power might fall upon them,
GrammarAnxious, and the fear clause bange means 'anxious, afraid'; after a verb of fearing, German often adds an expletive nicht that carries no negation into English: bange, daß nicht die Macht sie überfällt, 'afraid that the power might fall upon them'.
WordTo attack, to fall upon überfallen, 'to assault, ambush, fall upon suddenly', is inseparable. die Macht, 'the power', is the subject, sie, 'them', the accusative object of überfällt, the clause's final verb.
7
which they kept in him (the way one keeps lions)
GrammarRelative pronoun reaches back die opens a relative clause reaching back to die Macht, 'the power'; its verb nährten, 'nourished', waits at the start of the next line. so wie man Löwen hält uses impersonal man, 'one'.
8
warily nourished. But he,
WordTo nourish, to feed nähren, 'to feed, nourish, sustain', is the relative clause's verb, landing at its end: die sie in ihm … vorsichtig nährten, 'which they warily nourished in him'. Aber er, 'But he', starts a new clause.
9
in the shelter of his half-curtained senses,
GrammarIm Schutze governs the genitive im Schutze, 'under the protection of', governs the genitive: seiner halbverhängten Sinne, 'of his half-veiled senses' (genitive plural). The -e on Schutze is an old dative ending kept for the rhythm.
WordHalf-veiled, half-curtained halbverhängt is halb, 'half', plus the past participle of verhängen, 'to cover, drape, hang with cloth': 'half-curtained, half-draped'. die Sinne are 'the senses', genitive plural after Schutze.
10
grew not aware of it and did not pause,
GrammarBecoming aware, an old idiom ward is the old, poetic simple past of werden, 'to become', today wurde. gewahr werden means 'to become aware of', and it takes a genitive object: dessen nicht gewahr, 'not aware of it'.
WordTo pause, to leave off innehalten, 'to pause, stop short, leave off', is separable: hielt … inne, 'paused, halted'. hielt nicht inne, größer zu werden means 'did not stop growing greater'.
11
to grow greater. What the Signoria
GrammarA zu-infinitive completes a verb größer zu werden, 'to grow greater', is a zu-infinitive completing hielt nicht inne from the line before. größer is the comparative of groß, 'big, great'.
12
believed it could subdue within him,
GrammarGlauben zu plus infinitive glauben with a zu-infinitive means 'to believe, think one is doing or can do something': zu bezwingen glaubte, 'believed it could subdue, master'. in seinem Innern means 'within him'.
WordTo subdue, to conquer bezwingen, 'to subdue, vanquish, master, conquer', repeats three times across these lines in different forms: bezwingen, bezwang, bezwungen. Here it is the infinitive the Signoria hoped to perform.
13
he himself subdued. In his aged head
GrammarThe sentence resolves, verb first The long Was-sentence resolves here: Was die Signorie … zu bezwingen glaubte, bezwang er selbst, 'What the Signoria believed it could subdue, he himself subdued.' bezwang leads its clause, with er selbst, 'he himself'.
WordHoary, aged head greis means 'aged, hoary, white with age'; das Haupt is the elevated, literary word for 'head', above everyday der Kopf. in seinem greisen Haupte keeps the old dative -e for the rhythm.
14
it was vanquished. His face showed how.
WordTo defeat, a passive with war besiegen means 'to defeat, vanquish'; war es besiegt is a passive built from war, 'was', plus the past participle besiegt, 'it was vanquished'. This is the third of the poem's conquest verbs.
WordCountenance, and how it showed das Antlitz is the elevated, poetic word for 'face, countenance'. Sein Antlitz zeigte wie means 'His face showed how', with wie used to mean 'how', the manner.

The particulars

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