German · New Poems: The Other Part

Irre im Garten

The Mad in the Garden

20 lines · 21 notes

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1
Still the abandoned charterhouse closes
NochStillnoch · adverbdepends on schließt
schließtclosesschließen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
dietheder · determiner, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on Karthause
aufgegebeneabandonedaufgegeben · adjective, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on Karthause
KarthausecharterhouseKarthause · noun, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on schließt
Karthause = a Carthusian monastery ('charterhouse').
WordOlder spelling for Carthusian monastery Kartause, spelled Karthause here, names a Carthusian monastery, a charterhouse built around an enclosed courtyard. aufgegeben is the past participle of aufgeben, 'to give up, abandon', used as an adjective meaning 'abandoned'.
GrammarVerb-second order after an adverb German keeps the finite verb in second position: when the adverb noch, 'still, yet', opens the clause, schließt must follow immediately, before the subject die Karthause. schließen is intransitive here, 'to close, to shut around', completed by sich um den Hof in the next line.
2
around the courtyard, as though something were healing.
Grammarals plus subjunctive for unreal 'as though' als, 'as though', introduces a comparison that is not really so, marked by the subjunctive. würde ... heil is Konjunktiv II of werden plus heil, 'whole, healed': heil werden means 'to grow whole'. After als, ob is dropped and the verb moves right behind the conjunction.
3
Even those who now inhabit it have a pause
GrammarRelative pronoun with no antecedent noun die here is a relative pronoun meaning 'those who', with no noun before it. sie is its object: die sie jetzt bewohnen means 'those who now inhabit it'. As a subordinate clause, the verb bewohnen, 'to inhabit', falls to the end.
4
and take no part in the life outside.
GrammarSeparable verb teilnehmen with an teilnehmen, 'to take part', is separable: the stem nehmen stands in second position while teil sits at the clause end, nehmen nicht ... teil. It governs an plus dative: am Leben, from an dem Leben, means 'in the life'.
5
Whatever could ever come has run its course.
GrammarFree relative resumed by das was opens a free relative meaning 'whatever', strengthened by irgend, 'at all, possibly': was irgend kommen konnte means 'whatever could possibly come'. das then restates that clause as the subject of the main verb, verlief, from verlaufen, 'to run its course'.
6
Now they gladly keep to familiar paths
WordAdverb gern plus dative phrase gerne is the adverb 'gladly, willingly': gehn gerne means 'like to walk'. mit bekannten Wegen, 'along familiar paths', is dative plural after mit. bekannt means 'familiar, known'.
7
and part from one another and come to meet,
GrammarSeparable verb entgegenkommen with sich sich entgegenkommen, 'to come toward one another', is separable, so entgegen drops to the clause end: kommen sich entgegen. sich is reciprocal here, meaning 'each other', paired with sich trennen, 'to part from each other'.
8
as if they circled, willing, primitive.
Grammarals ob keeps ob before the verb als ob, 'as though', is the fuller form of als and keeps ob, so the verb goes to the end: als ob sie kreisten. kreisten is the Konjunktiv II of kreisen, 'to circle, to revolve', marking an unreal comparison.
9
True, some of them tend the spring flower-beds there,
Wordzwar signals a later but zwar means 'admittedly, it is true', and usually sets up a later aber, 'but'. pflegen means 'to tend, to care for, to cultivate'. das Frühlingsbeet joins Frühling, 'spring', and Beet, 'flower-bed'.
10
humble, meager, kneeling low;
GrammarPast participle of a separable verb hingekniet is the past participle of the separable verb hinknien, 'to kneel down', used here as an adjective meaning 'kneeling low'. The prefix hin- marks the downward, settling motion described.
11
but they have, when no one is watching,
Grammarkeiner as subject with impersonal es keiner means 'no one' and is the nominative subject of sieht, 'sees': wenn es keiner sieht means 'when no one sees'. es is a placeholder object with no clear referent, like English 'watching' with nothing named. The wenn-clause sends sieht to the end.
12
a secret, contorted
WordPast participles used as adjectives verheimlichte and verdrehte are past participles used as adjectives before the noun Gebärde in the next line. verheimlicht, from verheimlichen, 'to conceal', means 'hidden, kept secret'. verdreht, from verdrehen, 'to twist', means 'twisted, contorted'.
13
gesture for the tender early grass,
WordNoun for gesture delayed to this line die Gebärde means 'gesture, bearing, movement of the body'. It is the object of sie haben from an earlier line: 'they have a secret, contorted gesture'. für takes the accusative, so das Gras is what the gesture is for.
14
a testing, intimidated caress:
GrammarInfinitive turned into a noun liebkosen, 'to caress', is capitalized here and used as a neuter noun, das Liebkosen, 'a caress'. Any German infinitive can become a noun this way. prüfend, from prüfen, 'to test', means 'testing'; verschüchtert, from verschüchtern, 'to intimidate', means 'timid, cowed'.
15
for that is friendly, and the red of the roses
Grammardenn keeps normal word order denn is the coordinating conjunction 'for, because'; unlike weil it keeps the verb in second position, as in das ist freundlich. das Rot uses the color as a neuter noun, 'the red'. der Rosen is genitive plural, 'of the roses'.
16
will perhaps be threatening and excess
WordCompound noun for excess das Übermaß means 'excess, too-much-ness', literally 'over-measure', from über, 'over', and das Maß, 'measure'. drohend is the present participle of drohen, 'to threaten', used as an adjective meaning 'threatening'.
17
and will perhaps once more exceed
WordInseparable verb for to exceed übersteigen means 'to climb over' and so 'to exceed, surpass'. Here it is inseparable, so its prefix never splits off, and it reaches forward to its object, was ihre Seele wiederkennt und weiß, in the next line. schon wieder means 'yet again'.
18
what their soul still recognizes and knows.
GrammarFree relative was with verbs at the end was opens a free relative meaning 'what, that which', serving as the object of übersteigen: 'exceed what their soul knows'. wiederkennen means 'to recognize again'. It pairs with weiß, from wissen, 'to know', both closing the subordinate clause.
19
This, however, can still be kept unspoken:
Grammarsich lassen plus infinitive for can be läßt sich ... verschweigen is the sich lassen plus infinitive pattern, expressing 'can be done': here 'this can be kept unspoken'. läßt keeps the old spelling ß for lässt. verschweigen means 'to keep silent about, to leave unsaid'.
20
how good the grass is, and how soft.
WordShortened poetic form of leise leis is the shortened, poetic form of leise, 'quiet, soft, faint', with the final -e dropped for the meter and rhyme. wie leis stands for wie leis es ist, 'how soft it is', a subordinate clause with its verb, ist, understood but omitted.

The particulars

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