German · New Poems

Letzter Abend

Last Evening

14 lines · 14 notes

Tap a line to open its words. The mark beside it plays it.

1
And night, and distant journeying; for the train
Undandund · conjunctiondepends on Nacht
NachtnightNacht · noun, nominative, feminine, singularhead of the phrase
undandund · conjunctiondepends on Nacht
fernesdistantfern · adjective, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on Fahren
FahrenjourneyingFahren · noun, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on und
dennfordenn · conjunctiondepends on Train
dertheder · determiner, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on Train
TraintrainTrain · noun, nominative, masculine, singularsubject of zog
In older German military usage, 'Train' names an army's baggage/supply column, not a passenger train.
WordA military baggage column der Train, pronounced as in French, is a borrowed military term for the supply and baggage column of an army on the march, its wagons, horses, and provisions, not a railway train. der Train des ganzen Heeres means 'the whole army's transport'.
2
of the whole army was moving past the park.
GrammarSeparable verb vorüberziehen The verb is vorüberziehen, 'to move past, to file by', separable. The past tense stem zog sits early in the clause while the prefix vorüber is placed at the end. des ganzen Heeres is genitive, 'of the whole army', depending on der Train in the line above. am Park is an dem Park, dative for a fixed location.
3
But he raised his eyes up from the harpsichord
WordThe French word for harpsichord Clavecin is the French word for the harpsichord, kept here in its older C- spelling. vom Clavecin is von dem Clavecin, dative after von, 'from the harpsichord'.
4
and played on still and looked across toward her
WordMotion away from the speaker hinüber means 'over there, across', motion or a gaze directed away from the speaker toward a far point. Contrast herüber, across toward the speaker. sah zu ihr hinüber means 'looked over toward her'.
5
almost the way one gazes in a mirror:
GrammarThe impersonal pronoun man man is the impersonal pronoun, 'one, you in general', and always takes a third person singular verb, here schaut. wie man in einen Spiegel schaut means 'the way one looks into a mirror'. einen Spiegel is accusative after in because the gaze moves into the glass.
6
so wholly filled with his own youthful features,
WordZug meaning facial features der Zug has many senses, a pull, a draft, a procession, a railway train. In the plural die Züge it often means the features of a face. von seinen jungen Zügen, dative after von, means 'with his young features'.
7
and knowing how they would bear his sorrow,
GrammarSubjunctive of tragen trügen here is the Konjunktiv II, subjunctive, of tragen, 'to carry, to bear', formed with an umlaut on the past stem trug. In this clause it means 'how they would bear his sorrow'. Do not confuse it with trügen from betrügen, 'to deceive'.
8
lovelier and more seductive at every sound.
GrammarComparative of a participle verführend, 'seductive, alluring', is the present participle of verführen, 'to seduce, lead astray'. The ending -er makes it comparative, 'more seductive'. It pairs with schön, 'beautiful', and bei jedem Laut means 'at every sound'.
9
But suddenly it was as if that blurred away:
GrammarSubjunctive after als ob als ob means 'as though' and introduces an unreal comparison, taking the subjunctive. verwische is Konjunktiv I of the reflexive sich verwischen, 'to blur, to smudge, to grow indistinct'. wars contracts war es, 'it was', shortened for the meter.
10
she stood as if with effort in the window niche
WordAdverb meaning with effort mühsam means 'laborious, effortful, with difficulty', from die Mühe, 'effort, trouble'. Here wie mühsam functions as an adverb, 'with effort', modifying stand, 'stood'. die Fensternische is the recessed bay of the window.
11
and held back the heart's insistent pounding.
WordGe- noun and fronted genitive Geklopf is a noun built with the Ge- prefix from klopfen, 'to knock, to beat', naming a continuous pounding. Des Herzens is a genitive, 'of the heart', placed before its noun Geklopf instead of after it. Drängend means 'pressing, urgent, insistent'.
12
His playing slackened. From outside a coolness drifted.
GrammarSeparable verb splits apart Nachgeben, 'to give way, to slacken', is separable. The stem gab comes second in the clause and the prefix nach drops to the end, so gab nach means 'gave way'. Wehte comes from wehen, 'to blow gently', and Frische means 'coolness, freshness'.
13
And strangely alien there stood on the mirror table
WordAn adverb modifying an adjective Seltsam is an adverb meaning 'strangely' and modifies the adjective fremd, 'alien, foreign'. Together they mean 'strangely alien'. The verb stand takes second position in the clause, while its subject, named in the next line, comes later. Auf dem Spiegeltische is dative, marking a fixed location, 'on the mirror table'.
14
the black shako with the death's-head.
WordNames for cap and badge Der Tschako is a tall, stiff military dress cap worn by nineteenth century cavalry and infantry. Der Totenkopf, literally 'dead man's head', names the skull and crossbones badge worn on some such caps. Mit dem Totenkopf means 'with the death's head'.

The particulars

The text: Neue Gedichte, Rainer Maria Rilke. New Poems.
Reading aloud: Digital narration, directed by 1732 Studios.
The app: The same text on your phone, your place kept, the audio offline. The first poems free, the rest $4.99.
App Store Google Play
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
Data: JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents