German · New Poems: The Other Part

Fremde Familie

Strange Family

14 lines · 11 notes

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1
Just as the dust, which somehow begins
Sojustso · adverbdepends on wie (correlative "so wie")
wieaswie · prepositiondepends on Staub
dertheder · determiner, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on Staub
StaubdustStaub · noun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on wie
derwhichder · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on beginnt
irgendwiesomehowirgendwie · adverbdepends on beginnt
beginntbeginsbeginnen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the relative clause modifying Staub
GrammarExtended comparison across stanzas so wie, 'just as', opens a comparison completed only in the second stanza by so bildeten sie sich, 'so they took shape'. The whole first stanza is the wie half of the comparison, and the sentence stays open across the stanza break.
2
and is nowhere, toward some unexplained purpose
Grammarzu always takes the dative zu always takes the dative: zu unerklärtem Zwecke means 'for an unexplained purpose'. The -e on Zwecke is the old dative ending on the masculine noun der Zweck, kept here for the meter. unerklärt means 'unexplained'.
3
on an empty morning, in the corner
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one looks into, congeals quite swiftly into grey,
WordVerb for curdling applied to dust gerinnen means 'to clot, to curdle, to congeal', normally used of milk or blood. zu Grau gerinnt means 'congeals into grey'. in die man sieht, 'into which one looks', is accusative because the looking is directed into the corner it describes.
5
so they took shape, who knows out of what,
GrammarReflexive verb for taking shape sich bilden is the reflexive verb 'to form, to come into being'. bildeten is its past tense. This line answers the so wie of the first stanza: so bildeten sie sich, wer weiß aus was, 'so they took shape, who knows out of what'.
6
in the last instant before your steps,
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and were something uncertain there in the midst
Grammaretwas plus capitalized adjective noun After etwas, 'something', an adjective is capitalized and nominalized with a strong neuter -es ending: etwas Ungewisses means 'something uncertain'. The same pattern gives etwas Schönes, 'something beautiful'. ungewiss means 'uncertain, indistinct'.
8
of the wet drizzle of the lane — which
WordNoun spanning rain and sediment der Niederschlag means both 'precipitation', as in rain or drizzle, and 'sediment, deposit'. im nassen Niederschlag der Gasse holds both senses, the wet that has settled over the alley. die Gasse means 'a narrow lane'.
9
longed for you. Or not for you.
Grammarverlangen nach governs the dative verlangen nach means 'to long for, to crave', and governs the dative, hence nach dir, 'for you'. verlangte belongs to das, 'which', stranded at the end of the previous stanza, so the relative clause spans the stanza break.
10
For a voice, as if from the year before,
11
did sing to you, yet stayed a fit of weeping;
Grammarzwar doch concedes then reverses The pair zwar ... doch concedes then reverses meaning: 'it is true that ..., but yet ...'. sang dich zwar an uses the separable verb ansingen, 'to sing to someone', its prefix an parked at the line's end. das Geweine is a collective noun meaning 'continual crying'.
12
and a hand, that was as if on loan,
WordPast participle for borrowed geliehen is the past participle of leihen, 'to lend, to borrow'. wie geliehen means 'as though on loan', as though the hand does not belong to the one offering it. die is the feminine relative pronoun agreeing with eine Hand.
13
did reach out, yet did not take your own.
GrammarPossessive used as a standalone pronoun die deine, 'yours', is the possessive dein used alone as a pronoun, here standing for 'your hand'. hervorkommen, 'to come forth', is separable: kam ... hervor. zwar ... doch again concedes then reverses: the hand came out yet did not take yours.
14
Who is still coming, then? Whom do these four mean?
GrammarCase marked on the question word German marks case on the interrogative: wer is nominative, 'who', the subject; wen is accusative, 'whom', the object. Wer kommt means 'who is coming'; Wen meinen diese vier means 'whom do these four mean'. denn is a softening particle coloring the question.

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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