German · New Poems: The Other Part

Kreuzigung

Crucifixion

21 lines · 35 notes

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1
Long since practiced at herding to the bare gallows-ground
LängstLong sincelängst · adverbdepends on geübt
geübtpracticedüben · verb, participledepends on Knechte
zumto thezu · prepositiondepends on hinzudrängen
kahlenbarekahl · adjective, dative, masculine, singulardepends on Galgenplatze
Galgenplatzegallows-groundGalgenplatz · noun, dative, masculine, singulardepends on zum
GrammarLängst with a past participle Längst means 'long since, for a long time now'. Geübt is the past participle of üben, 'to practice, drill', used adjectivally: 'long practiced'. The phrase has no subject of its own yet; it describes the soldiers named in a later line.
WordA compound for the gallows place A compound of Galgen, 'gallows', and Platz, 'place': Galgenplatz is the place of execution. Zum ... Galgenplatze is dative after zu, with an old -e dative ending on Platze, marking the destination. Kahl means 'bare, barren.'
2
some rabble or other, toward it
WordA collective noun for rabble Das Gesindel is a contemptuous collective noun, 'rabble, riffraff'. The Ge- prefix gathers many individuals into one mass. Irgendein, 'some or other', makes the crowd faceless and indefinite.
GrammarZu inside a separable verb The verb is hindrängen, a separable verb meaning 'to push or herd (a crowd) toward a spot'. As a zu-infinitive the zu sits between prefix and stem: hin-zu-drängen. It completes geübt from the line before: 'practiced at herding.'
3
the heavy hired men let themselves slouch,
GrammarLassen with a reflexive infinitive Lassen plus reflexive sich plus infinitive means 'to let oneself...'. Sich hängen lassen idiomatically means 'to slouch, slump, go slack'. Die schweren Knechte, 'the heavy hired men', is the subject that lets itself go loose.
WordA word for hired men Der Knecht, plural Knechte, means 'servant, farmhand, hired hand', a man doing heavy work under orders. Here the Knechte are the soldiers carrying out the executions. Schweren, 'heavy', from schwer, describes them as coarse and lumpish.
4
only now and then turning a great grimace
WordAn idiom for now and then Dann und wann is a fixed phrase meaning 'now and then, occasionally'. It governs the participle kehrend, 'turning', which opens the next line, so the clause deliberately spills across the stanza break.
WordA word for a grimace Die Fratze means 'a grimace, a distorted or ugly face'. Eine große Fratze, 'a great grimace', is the accusative object of kehrend, 'turning', in the line that follows.
5
toward the three already done away with.
GrammarPresent participle 'kehrend' Kehrend is the present participle of kehren, 'to turn'. It reaches back to eine große Fratze in the line before: 'turning a great grimace toward...'. Nach governs the dative den abgetanen Drein that follows.
WordA participle and a dative plural Abtun means 'to do away with, dispose of'; its past participle abgetan, used as an adjective, means 'dealt-with, finished-off'. Drein is the dative plural of die Drei, 'the three': 'toward the three already disposed of.'
6
But up above, the shoddy hangman's work
WordAn adverb of place Oben means 'up, above, up there', the opposite of unten, 'below'. It shifts attention from the crowd on the ground to the crosses raised over them.
GrammarA verb made into a noun Henkern, 'to do a hangman's work', is built from der Henker, 'hangman'. Capitalized with an article, das Henkern becomes a noun, 'the hangman-ing'. Das schlechte Henkern means 'the shoddy work of executing.'
7
was quickly done; and once the finishing was over
GrammarCompleting the clause Rasch means 'quick, swift'; getan is the past participle of tun, 'to do'. Reaching back to war in the line above, war ... rasch getan means 'was quickly done', the participle closing the clause at its end, as German word order requires.
WordA verb phrase turned into a noun Fertig sein, 'to be finished, done', is turned into the noun das Fertigsein, 'the being-finished'. Nach dem Fertigsein means 'after the being-done', once the job was over.
8
the men, now free, let their limbs swing loose.
WordFree meaning off duty Frei means 'free', but here it means simply off-duty, done with the work. Die freien Männer, 'the free men', are the soldiers now at leisure, set against the three still fixed to their crosses.
GrammarLetting the limbs dangle Schlenkern means 'to dangle, swing loosely, let limbs flop'. With sich ... lassen, 'to let oneself...', ließen sich ... schlenkern means 'let themselves dangle, swing their limbs loose', echoing ließen sich ... hängen earlier in the poem.
9
Until one of them (spattered like a butcher)
GrammarA subordinator meaning until Bis, 'until', opens a subordinate clause running into the next line: Bis der eine ... sagte, 'Until one of them said'. As a subordinator it sends the verb, sagte, to the end of its clause.
10
said: Captain, this one cried out.
WordA word for captain Der Hauptmann means 'captain', literally 'head-man', from Haupt and Mann, the officer commanding the detail. Dieser, 'this one', refers to one of the three men, subject of hat geschrien, 'has cried out.'
GrammarPerfect of 'schreien' Schreien, 'to scream, cry out', is a strong verb whose past participle is geschrien. Hat geschrien is the present perfect: 'has cried out.' The everyday reporting tense treats the cry as a routine fact.
11
And the captain looked down from his horse: Which one?
GrammarOld dative ending Vom is the contraction of von dem, and von takes the dative: vom Pferde means 'from the horse', with the archaic -e dative ending on Pferd. The captain stays mounted, looking down rather than dismounting.
12
and it seemed to him that he himself had
GrammarAn idiom of impression Es war ihm (selbst), ... is an idiom of impression meaning 'it seemed to him', literally 'it was to him'. Ihm is the dative of er, 'he'; selbst adds 'himself', stressing that even he half-felt it.
GrammarSubjunctive of report Hätte is the subjunctive II of haben, 'to have'. After es war ihm, it reports an uncertain impression: er hätte ihn ... hören, 'that he had heard him', marking a perception the speaker is not sure of, not a stated fact.
13
heard him call for Elijah. All of them
GrammarDouble infinitive after 'hören' Verbs of perception like hören, 'to hear', take a bare infinitive, not a zu-infinitive: ihn rufen hören, 'to hear him call'. In a perfect tense this produces two stacked infinitives instead of a participle: er hätte ihn rufen hören, 'he had heard him call.'
14
were full of eagerness to watch,
GrammarZu inside a separable infinitive Zuschauen, 'to watch, look on', is a separable verb. As a zu-infinitive the zu nests between prefix and stem: zu-zu-schauen. It depends on voller Lust, 'full of eagerness': 'full of eagerness to watch.'
WordFull of eagerness Voll(er) means 'full of'; die Lust here means 'desire, eager appetite', not the narrower English 'lust'. Voller Lust zuzuschauen means 'full of eagerness to watch.'
15
and so that he should not give out, they held
GrammarSubjunctive of purpose Verfalle is the present subjunctive of verfallen, 'to collapse, give out'. In the purpose clause daß er nicht verfalle, 'so that he should not give out', the subjunctive marks an intended outcome rather than a stated fact.
16
greedily, to him, the whole gall of vinegar
WordAn adjective for greed Gierig means 'greedy, avid', from die Gier, 'greed'. Ihm, dative, refers to the dying man, object of hielten, 'held', in the line above: the crowd holds the sponge to him, greedy for the spectacle to continue.
17
against his fading fit of coughing.
WordPresent participle as adjective Schwinden means 'to dwindle, fade away'; schwindend is its present participle, 'fading'. Sein schwindendes Gehust, accusative after an, means 'his fading fit of coughing.'
GrammarA collective noun with the Ge prefix Das Gehust is a collective noun built from husten, 'to cough', with the Ge- frame that gathers a repeated action into one continuous mass: 'a fit of coughing'. The same pattern gives Gerede, 'chatter', and Gelächter, 'laughter.'
18
For they still hoped for a whole show
GrammarA conjunction that keeps word order Denn means 'for, because', a coordinating conjunction that gives a reason. Unlike subordinating weil, denn keeps normal main-clause word order: Denn sie hofften, 'For they hoped.'
WordA noun for a whole show Das Spiel means 'a play, game, performance, show'. Ein ganzes Spiel, accusative after hofften, 'hoped for', means 'a whole show', the object the crowd was still waiting on.
19
and perhaps the coming of Elijah.
GrammarPresent participle as adjective Kommend is the present participle of kommen, 'to come', used adjectivally: 'coming, approaching'. Den kommenden Elia, accusative, is a second object of hofften: 'the coming Elijah.'
20
But far behind, Mary was screaming,
WordTwo adverbs of distance Hinten means 'at the back, behind'; ferne, more usually fern, means 'far, far off'. Together, hinten ferne means 'far back, in the distance', locating where the cry sounds from.
21
and he himself bellowed, and gave out.
WordA blunt verb for roaring Brüllen means 'to roar, bellow, howl', a raw and blunter word than rufen, 'to call', used earlier of the same man. Er selber brüllte means 'he himself bellowed.'
GrammarSimple past of collapsing Verfiel is the simple past of verfallen, 'to collapse, give out, sink'. It is the same verb the crowd earlier tried to forestall with daß er nicht verfalle; here it happens: er ... verfiel, 'he gave out.'

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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