German · New Poems: The Other Part

Falkenbeize

Falconry

22 lines · 24 notes

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1
To be emperor means, unaltered, to endure
KaiseremperorKaiser · noun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on sein
seinto besein · verb, infinitivedepends on heißt
heißtmeansheißen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
unverwandeltunalteredunverwandelt · adverbdepends on überstehen
vielesmuchviel · pronoun, accusative, neuter, singulardepends on überstehen
GrammarHeißen can mean to amount to An infinitive phrase as subject: Kaiser sein, 'to be emperor', is the subject, and heißt here means 'means, amounts to', not 'is called'. unverwandelt, 'unchanged', is fronted before its verb.
2
much amid secret labor:
WordTo come through, to endure überstehen means 'to withstand, get through, survive' an ordeal. Its object reaches back across the line break: vieles überstehen, 'to endure much'. bei geheimer Tat means 'amid secret labor'.
3
when the chancellor entered the tower at night,
GrammarWenn sends the verb last wenn, 'when', is a subordinating conjunction, so its finite verb is pushed to the end of the clause: wenn der Kanzler nachts den Turm betrat, 'when the chancellor entered the tower at night'.
4
he found him dictating, of the high sport of feathers
GrammarInversion after a wenn-clause Because the whole wenn-clause fills the first position, the main verb fand, 'found', comes next and the subject er follows: verb-second inversion. fand er ihn … sagen means 'found him dictating'.
GrammarA genitive with an old ending des hohen Federspieles is genitive, 'of the high falconry', with the old genitive ending -es on Federspiel. das Federspiel, literally 'the feather-play', names hawking itself.
5
the bold, princely treatise
WordA formal treatise der Traktat is a formal treatise or learned tract. It is the accusative object of sagen in the next stanza, what the emperor dictates to the scribe.
6
into the bent-attentive scribe;
WordBent inward, attentive eingeneigt is a rare past participle of einneigen, 'inclined, bent inward', describing the scribe leaning in over his page. in den … Schreiber sagen means 'to say into the scribe'.
7
for in the remote hall he had,
GrammarA coordinating for denn, 'for, because', is a coordinating conjunction, so unlike weil it does not send the verb to the end: normal verb-second order follows. denn er hatte … getragen is a pluperfect.
WordA remote hall der Saal is a large hall or chamber, plural Säle; entlegen means 'remote, out of the way, secluded'. im entlegnen Saale, dative, keeps the old dative -e on Saale.
8
night-long and many times himself,
WordNight after night nächtelang, 'night after night, for nights on end', is built from Nächte, the plural of Nacht, plus -lang, the same pattern as tagelang, 'for days', or stundenlang, 'for hours'.
9
borne the still-unaccustomed creature,
WordStill not used to it ungewohnt means 'unaccustomed, not yet used to something'; with noch, 'still', it modifies Tier, 'creature'. getragen, the past participle of tragen, completes the pluperfect hatte … getragen.
10
when it was strange, new and freshly brought to hand.
WordA falconry term aufgebräut, also aufbräuen, is a technical term from German falconry: to break a newly caught hawk to the fist by carrying and waking it until it grows calm.
11
And he had then never shrunk
GrammarReflexive verb plus zu-infinitive sich scheuen is reflexive, 'to shy away from, shrink from, hesitate to do something'; it takes a zu-infinitive, here zu verachten four lines on. hatte … sich nie gescheut is pluperfect.
12
plans that had sprung up in him
GrammarA separable verb as participle aufspringen, 'to spring up, leap up, burst open', is a separable verb; as a past participle the prefix auf- fuses back on: aufgesprungen. welche is a relative pronoun for die.
13
or the deep, deep inward chime
GrammarGenitive plural of memories zärtlicher Erinnerungen is genitive plural, 'of tender memories', depending on Geläut two lines later. zärtlich means 'tender, gentle, loving'; Erinnerung is 'memory, recollection', here plural after oder.
14
of tender memories
WordA coined compound, deep and inner das Geläut is the pealing or ringing of bells. tieftiefinneres is a coined compound, tief, 'deep', doubled and joined to inner, 'inner': 'deep-deep-inmost', modifying Geläut.
15
to despise — for the sake of the anxious young
GrammarA wrap-around for the sake of verachten, 'to despise, scorn, disregard', is the infinitive completing hatte sich nie gescheut zu. um … willen means 'for the sake of' and wraps a genitive: um des bangen jungen Falken willen.
16
falcon, whose blood and cares
GrammarGenitive relative pronoun whose dessen is the masculine or neuter genitive relative pronoun, 'whose'. dessen Blut und Sorgen means 'whose blood and cares', referring back to des … Falken.
17
he did not let himself off from grasping.
GrammarTo let oneself off something sich etwas erlassen means 'to let oneself off something, spare oneself a duty'; negated here, er sich nicht erließ means 'he did not excuse himself'. erließ is the past of erlassen.
18
For this he too was, as it were, borne aloft with it,
GrammarA pronominal adverb, in return dafür, 'for that, in return for this', is a pronominal adverb bundling up everything before it. Placed first, it triggers verb-second inversion: Dafür war er. mitgehoben means 'lifted along'.
19
when the bird, whom the lords praise,
GrammarA relative clause, whom they praise den is the masculine accusative relative pronoun, 'whom', object of loben, 'to praise': den die Herren loben, 'whom the lords praise'. The verb loben falls to the clause's end.
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flung gleaming from the hand, above
GrammarA participle phrase set apart geworfen, past participle of werfen, 'to throw, cast, fling', heads a participial phrase around der Vogel. von der Hand means 'from the hand'; glänzend, 'gleaming', is an adverbial participle.
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into the keenly felt spring morning
WordFelt along with, shared feeling mitgefühlt is a participle built on mitfühlen, 'to feel with, to sympathize'. The mit- echoes mitgehoben three lines earlier. der Frühlingsmorgen means 'spring morning', dative after in dem.
22
struck like an angel upon the heron.
GrammarStoßen auf takes the accusative stoßen auf is the falconer's word for a hawk's stoop, to plunge down and strike at prey; with auf it takes the accusative den Reiher, 'the heron'. stieß is the past of stoßen.

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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