German · New Poems: The Other Part

Papageienpark

Parrot Park

14 lines · 16 notes

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1
Under Turkish lindens, which are in bloom, at the lawn's edges,
UnterUnderunter · prepositionhead of the phrase
türkischenTurkishtürkisch · adjective, dative, feminine, pluraldepends on Linden
LindenlindensLinde · noun, dative, feminine, pluraldepends on Unter
diewhichder · pronoun, nominative, feminine, pluraldepends on blühen
blühenbloomblühen · verb, present, indicative, third-person, pluralmain verb of the sentence
anatan · prepositiondepends on Unter
Rasenrändernlawn edgesRasenrand · noun, dative, masculine, pluraldepends on an
WordA compound for the lawn's edge Rasenrändern joins Rasen, 'lawn', and Rand, 'edge', dative plural after an, 'at, along'. The line sets a manicured park, clipped grass and flowering ornamental limes, before the caged parrots appear at its trimmed margins.
2
in stands gently rocked by their homesickness,
GrammarA whole clause before the noun German can stack a clause in front of a noun as one long adjective. leise von ihrem Heimweh geschaukelten, 'gently rocked by their homesickness', is a past participle placed before Ständern, 'stands, perches'.
3
the macaws breathe and know of their own lands,
WordÄra names the macaw, not an age Here Ära is Rilke's spelling of Ara, the macaw, the large parrot of South and Central America, not the ordinary word 'era'. The macaws breathe and remember their own Ländern, 'lands'.
GrammarWissen von means to know of wissen with von plus the dative means 'to know of, be aware of' something, carrying an awareness of it rather than simply remembering. von ihren Ländern means 'of their lands'.
4
which, even when they do not look over, do not change.
GrammarSeparable verb pointing away hinsehen, 'to look over there', joins sehen, 'to see', with the directional prefix hin-, which points away from the speaker; here clipped to hinsehn for the meter. auch wenn sie nicht hinsehn means 'even when they do not look over'.
5
Strange in the busy green like a parade,
WordA noun made from an adjective das Grüne is grün, 'green', turned into a noun, 'the greenery'; im Grünen is a set phrase for 'out in nature'. beschäftigt means 'busy, occupied', personifying the park's greenery. fremd means 'foreign, out of place'.
6
they put on airs and feel themselves too good,
WordA reflexive idiom for preening sich zieren means 'to act coy, make a show of reluctance, preen'. sich selber zu schade sein means 'to consider oneself too good for something'. Together the phrase describes the macaws preening and holding themselves precious.
7
and with their precious beaks of jasper and jade
WordTwo names for semi-precious stone Jaspis and Jade are jasper and jade, semi-precious stones; aus gives the material, 'made of'. kostbar means 'precious, costly'. The beaks are rendered as carved gemstone, set against the grey stuff chewed in the next line.
8
they chew grey stuff, squander it, find it bland.
GrammarA color adjective made a noun Graues is grau, 'grey', turned into a noun, 'grey stuff, something grey', capitalized, neuter, with no article. It is the accusative object of kauen, 'to chew', picked up again by es, 'it', in the following clauses.
WordA verb for careless waste verschleudern means 'to squander, fling away, sell off cheaply', to discard something as though worthless. fade means 'insipid, bland, tasteless'. The verbs pile up the macaws' bored disdain for the food.
9
Below, the drab pigeons pick over what they do not like,
WordDialect word plus a picking verb duff is a dialect word for 'dull, lustreless, matt', describing the grey pigeons against the bright macaws. klauben means 'to pick out, gather piece by piece', as one gathers scattered grain.
10
while above the scornful birds bow,
GrammarWährend sends the verb last während, 'while', is a subordinating conjunction, so its clause puts the finite verb last, verbeugen, 'to bow'. The reflexive sich sits early, and the subject die höhnischen Vögel follows the adverb oben, 'above'.
11
between the two near-empty, wasted troughs.
WordA trough, and a word for wasted der Trog means 'trough, feeding tub', dative plural Trögen after zwischen, 'between'. vergeudet is the past participle of vergeuden, 'to waste, fritter away', used as an adjective. The troughs stand nearly empty and squandered.
12
But then they sway again and drowse and peer,
WordThree verbs of half sleep wiegen means 'to rock, sway, cradle'; schläfern means 'to grow sleepy', related to schlafen, 'to sleep'; äugen, a hunter's word from Auge, 'eye', means 'to peer, watch keenly'. The macaws rock and doze while staying watchful.
13
play with dark tongues that would gladly lie,
GrammarSubjunctive of lügen, to lie lögen is Konjunktiv II, past subjunctive, of lügen, 'to lie, tell untruths'; note the umlaut, where the indicative logen becomes subjunctive lögen. With gerne, 'gladly', it expresses a wish, 'tongues that would gladly lie'.
14
distracted at the leg-shackle rings. Waiting for witnesses.
WordA triple compound for a leg chain Fußfesselringen stacks Fuß, 'foot', Fessel, 'shackle', and Ring, 'ring': the metal ring chaining a bird's leg to its perch, dative plural after an, 'at'. zerstreut means 'distracted, absent-minded'.

The particulars

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