German · New Poems

In einem fremden Park

In a Strange Park

18 lines · 17 notes

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1
Two paths there are. They lead no one anywhere.
ZweiTwozwei · numeraldepends on Wege
WegepathsWeg · noun, nominative, masculine, pluraldepends on sinds
sindsthere aresein · auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, pluralmain verb of the sentence
'sinds' is a contraction of 'sind es' (are it/there).
SieTheysie · pronoun, nominative, pluraldepends on führen
führenleadführen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, pluralmain verb of the sentence
keinenno onekeiner · pronoun, accusative, masculine, singulardepends on führen
'keinen' here is the pronoun 'no one', not the determiner 'kein' — matches the dataset's own convention of citing pronominal forms as 'einer'/'welcher' elsewhere in this same batch (e.g. eine->einer, welche->welcher).
hinanywherehin · adverbdepends on führen
GrammarA contraction of sind es sinds contracts sind es, 'are it, there are'. Zwei Wege sinds means 'Two paths there are', an inverted way of saying 'there are two paths', with sind agreeing with the plural Wege even though es is grammatically singular.
Grammarführen... hin, leading nowhere führen means 'to lead'; hin, the separable prefix meaning 'toward, along', is placed at the end of the clause. keinen hin means 'no one anywhere', so führen keinen hin means 'they lead no one anywhere'.
2
Yet sometimes, lost in thought, the one of them lets
Grammarlassen plus infinitive, letting happen lassen plus an infinitive means 'to let, allow (something to happen)'. läßt der eine dich weitergehn means 'the one [path] lets you walk on', with weitergehn, 'to walk on', as the infinitive lassen governs.
3
you walk on. It seems as though you'd lost your way;
Grammarals plus a verb, no dass needed als, 'as though', can be followed directly by the verb, without dass, when it introduces this kind of comparison: als gingst du fehl means 'as though you had lost your way'. fehl is the detached prefix of fehlgehen, 'to go astray'.
4
but all at once you stand within the roundel
WordA garden loanword das Rondel means a round, enclosed space in a garden, often with a path circling it, a roundel. It is a French loanword in German garden vocabulary, naming the place where the path unexpectedly delivers you.
5
left alone once more beside the stone
WordLeft by yourself again alleingelassen is the past participle of alleinlassen, 'to leave alone', a compound of allein, 'alone', and lassen, 'to leave, let'. It describes the state of being left by yourself, here again, beside the stone.
6
and reading on it once again: Baroness
7
Brite Sophie—and once again with a finger
8
feeling out the crumbled-away year—.
WordTracing something with the fingers abfühlen means 'to feel out, trace with the fingers', from fühlen, 'to feel', with the prefix ab-, suggesting a careful, tracing motion. abfühlend is its present participle, describing the ongoing act of tracing the worn inscription.
9
Why does this finding never grow less keen?
GrammarAn infinitive turned into a noun Finden is the infinitive of finden, 'to find', used here as a neuter noun with a capital letter: 'this finding, this act of finding'. German freely turns any infinitive into a noun this way, always neuter and always capitalized.
10
Why do you hesitate, just as the first time,
WordA fixed phrase for the first time zum erstenmal means 'for the first time', a fixed phrase built from zu dem, 'to the', plus erstenmal, 'first time'. ganz wie zum erstenmal means 'just as though for the first time'.
11
full of expectancy in this elm-shaded place,
WordA compound place name Ulmenplatz is a compound of Ulme, 'elm', and Platz, 'place, square', naming a spot shaded by elm trees. Compounds like this, noun plus noun, are the ordinary way German names a specific kind of place.
12
damp and dark and never trodden upon?
WordA coined compound, never trodden niebetreten is a coined compound of nie, 'never', and betreten, the past participle of betreten, 'to step on, enter'. Together they mean 'never trodden [on]', describing ground no foot has touched.
13
And what a contradiction lures you on,
Grammarwas... für ein, split across the line was... für ein is an idiom meaning 'what kind of, what a', with für ein often separated from was by other words, as here: was verlockt dich für ein Gegensatz means 'what a contradiction lures you'.
14
to go seeking something in the sunlit beds,
GrammarDative plural for a location in takes the dative here because the beds are a location, not a destination reached by motion. den sonnigen Beeten, 'the sunny beds', is dative plural, agreeing in case with in and in number with Beet, 'flower bed'.
15
as if it were the name of a rose-bush?
GrammarA contraction, it were wärs contracts wäre es, 'it were'. als wärs der Name means 'as though it were the name', using Subjunctive II after als for an imagined possibility, here about what draws the speaker's attention.
16
Why do you often stop? What do your ears hear?
GrammarTwo direct questions Was stehst du oft? means 'Why do you often stop?', with was used adverbially for 'why' rather than as an object. Was hören deine Ohren? means 'What do your ears hear?', where deine Ohren, 'your ears', plural, is the subject of hören.
17
And why do you, at last, as though forlorn,
WordAs though, describing a look wie verloren means 'as though lost, forlorn', with wie introducing a comparison and verloren, the past participle of verlieren, 'to lose', used as an adjective describing the manner of looking.
18
watch the butterflies flicker round the tall phlox?
WordA literary word for butterfly der Falter means 'butterfly, moth', a more literary word than Schmetterling. Here it is the nominative plural subject of flimmern, 'flicker', in the clause you watch: die Falter flimmern um den hohen Phlox, 'the butterflies flicker around the tall phlox'.

The particulars

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