German · New Poems: The Other Part

Persisches Heliotrop

Persian Heliotrope

14 lines · 13 notes

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1
It could be that to you the rose's praise
Esites · pronoun, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on könnte
könntecouldkönnen · auxiliary verb, past, subjunctive, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
seinbesein · auxiliary verb, infinitivedepends on könnte
daßthatdaß · subordinating conjunctiondepends on erscheint
dirto youdir · pronoun, dative, singulardepends on erscheint
dertheder · determiner, genitive, feminine, singulardepends on Rose
Archaic word order: the genitive 'der Rose' (of the rose) is placed before the noun it modifies, 'Lob' — 'der Rose Lob' = 'the rose's praise'.
RoseroseRose · noun, genitive, feminine, singulardepends on Lob
LobpraiseLob · noun, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on erscheint
GrammarConditional opening, subjunctive könnte könnte is Konjunktiv II of können, 'can', softening a statement into a supposition: 'it could be that...'. daß, the old spelling of dass, sends its verb to the clause's end, here erscheint two lines on. der Rose Lob fronts a genitive, 'the rose's praise'.
2
seems too loud for your beloved: take
WordTo seem, to appear erscheinen means 'to appear, to seem'; zu laut erscheint means '[the praise] seems too loud'. This is the verb the daß-clause has been waiting for since line 1: 'the rose's praise seems too loud for your beloved'. die Freundin is 'girlfriend, beloved'.
3
the prettily embroidered herb and outvote
WordThe herb, finely embroidered das Kraut means 'herb, plant, leafy growth', here the heliotrope itself. gestickt is the past participle of sticken, 'to embroider'; schön gestickt means 'prettily embroidered', picturing the plant as needlework.
4
with the urgently whispering heliotrope
GrammarInseparable verb, to outvote überstimm is the imperative of überstimmen, 'to outvote, overrule by voice'; über- stays fixed to the stem here, so the verb is inseparable. The command runs across the line break: überstimm ... den ßülbül, 'outvote the nightingale'.
5
the bülbül, who at her favorite haunts
6
praises her with shouts and does not know her.
GrammarParticiple used as adverb preisen means 'to praise, extol'; sie ... preist means 'praises her'. schreiend is the present participle of schreien, 'to scream, shout', used adverbially: 'praising her with shouts'. und sie nicht kennt means 'and does not know her'.
7
For look: as sweet words at night, in sentences,
GrammarWie opens a simile denn is the coordinating 'for, because', introducing a reason; sieh is the imperative of sehen, 'look!'. wie here opens a simile, 'as, just as', answered by so at the start of the third stanza. nachts, 'at night', is an adverbial genitive.
8
stand all close together, by nothing parted,
GrammarSeparable verb, standing together beisammenstehen, 'to stand together, side by side', is separable, beisammen- plus stehen; it is contracted to beisammenstehn for the meter. durch nichts getrennt, 'separated by nothing', uses getrennt, the past participle of trennen, 'to separate'.
9
out of the vowels' wakeful violet,
WordGenitive of the vowels, fronted der Vokale is the genitive plural of der Vokal, 'vowel', set before its noun: 'the vowels' violet'. wach means 'awake, wakeful'; the dative wachem Violett follows aus, 'out of'. das Violett is the color violet.
10
wafting their scent through the silent canopied bed—:
WordA coined verb for scent hindüftend is the present participle of a Rilkean coinage hinduften, hin-, 'away, forth', plus duften, 'to give off scent': 'wafting its fragrance forth'. das Himmelbett, literally 'heaven-bed', is a canopied bed, also punning on Himmel, 'sky'.
11
so, before the quilted foliage, close
GrammarSo answers the earlier wie so, 'so, thus', completes the simile begun with wie in the stanza before. sich schließen, 'to close, draw together', is reflexive; its subject, deutliche Sterne, arrives on the next line, so the verb stands before it.
12
distinct stars into the silken cluster
WordGrape-cluster, silken sich schließen zu means 'to close up into, gather into'; die Traube is a 'grape-cluster, bunch'. zu der seidnen Traube means 'into the silken cluster', seidnen being a contracted dative of seiden, 'silken', shortened from seidenen for the verse.
13
and blend, so that it almost blurs from it,
GrammarDaß of result, to blur mischen means 'to mix, blend'; daß here is consecutive, 'so that', giving the result: daß sie fast davon verschwimmt, 'so that it nearly blurs from it'. verschwimmen means 'to grow blurred, swim out of focus'; sie refers to die Stille, 'the silence'.
14
the silence with vanilla and with cinnamon.
WordClosing object of mischen This line completes mischen: the stars 'blend the silence with vanilla and with cinnamon'. die Stille, 'the silence', is the object, mixed mit Vanille, 'with vanilla', und mit Zimt, 'and with cinnamon'.

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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