German · New Poems

Pietà

17 lines · 16 notes

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1
So I see your feet again, Jesus,
Sososo · adverbdepends on seh
sehseesehen · verb, present, indicative, first-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
ichIich · pronoun, nominative, first-person, singulardepends on seh
JesusJesusJesus · proper noun, vocative, masculine, singulardirect address, depends on seh
deineyourdein · determiner, accusative, pluraldepends on Füße
FüßefeetFuß · noun, accusative, masculine, pluraldepends on seh
wiederagainwieder · adverbdepends on seh
GrammarVerb second after an adverb German is a verb second language: when a sentence opens with an adverb like so, 'thus, in this way', the finite verb still must stand second, pushing the subject after it. So seh ich means 'thus I see'. Seh is the poetic spelling of sehe.
2
O the feet that once were a young man's feet,
GrammarA genitive noun phrase Eines Jünglings is the genitive of ein Jüngling, 'a youth, a young man', placed before the noun it modifies: 'a young man's feet'. Die … waren is a relative clause, with die pointing back to deine Füße in the line before.
3
when, trembling, I bared and washed them;
GrammarWhen, not there Here da is a temporal conjunction meaning 'when, at the time that', not the more common 'there' or 'since'. It opens a subordinate clause, so the finite verbs entkleidete and wusch fall to the end. Bang is an adverb, 'fearfully, anxiously'.
WordTo undress, uncover Entkleiden means 'to undress, to bare, to strip of covering'; the prefix ent- marks removal. Here it describes uncovering the feet before washing them.
4
how they stood bewildered in my hair
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and like a white deer in the thornbush.
WordA collective noun for game Das Wild is a collective noun for game or wild animals, used here for a single creature: 'a wild beast, a deer'. Im Dornenbusch means 'in the thornbush'.
6
So I see your never-loved limbs
WordA coined compound adjective Rilke fuses nie, 'never', and geliebt, 'loved', into one adjective, niegeliebt, 'never loved', declined here as niegeliebten. Die Glieder are the 'limbs, members' of the body.
7
for the first time in this night of love.
WordFor the first time Zum erstenmal, modern zum ersten Mal, is the fixed phrase 'for the first time'. Die Liebesnacht literally means 'love night', a night of love.
8
We never yet lay down together,
GrammarSeparable reflexive verb Sich niederlegen means 'to lie down'. It is separable: the prefix nieder splits off and goes to the end of the clause, giving legten uns … nieder around noch nie zusammen, 'never yet together'. Uns is the reflexive object.
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and now there is only marvelling and keeping watch.
GrammarImpersonal passive, no subject Wird bewundert und gewacht is an impersonal passive with no subject, only the action named: 'there is marveling and watching'. Bewundern means 'to admire, to marvel at'; wachen means 'to keep watch, hold vigil'.
10
Yet, look, your hands are torn open—:
GrammarDoch and the old imperative siehe Doch marks a turn, 'yet, but'. Siehe is the old imperative of sehen, 'behold, look', more solemn than the everyday sieh. Zerrissen is the past participle of zerreißen, 'to tear apart'.
11
Beloved, not by me, not by my bites.
GrammarVon marking the agent After a passive, sind zerrissen, von plus the dative names the agent, 'by'. Der Biss is 'a bite', from beißen, 'to bite'. Von mir, von meinen Bissen means 'by me, by my bites'.
12
Your heart stands open, and one can go in:
GrammarMan with directional hinein Man is the impersonal pronoun, 'one, anyone'. Hinein means 'into there', motion away from the speaker; a verb of motion such as gehen is understood, so man kann hinein means 'one can go in'.
13
that should have been only my way in.
GrammarUnreal past with double infinitive Das hätte … sein dürfen is the subjunctive of unreal regret: 'that ought to have been allowed to be'. With the modal dürfen, 'to be permitted', the perfect uses a double infinitive instead of a participle, giving the order hätte dürfen … sein. Der Eingang means 'entrance, way in'.
14
Now you are weary, and your weary mouth
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has no desire for my aching mouth—.
WordLust haben zu, to desire Lust haben zu means 'to have a desire or appetite for'. Weh is a poetic adjective, 'sore, aching, full of pain', declined here as wehen in the dative zu meinem wehen Munde, which keeps the old dative ending -e on Munde.
16
O Jesus, Jesus, when was our hour?
WordOur hour, our moment Unsre is the contracted poetic form of unsere, 'our'. Die Stunde literally means 'hour', but idiomatically it can mean one's appointed time or moment.
17
How strangely we two go to our ruin.
WordTo perish, come to ruin Zugrunde gehen, spelled here zugrund without the final e, and gehn for gehen, means 'to perish, to be ruined, to come to nothing'. Wunderlich means 'strange, odd, uncanny', not 'wonderful'.

The particulars

The text: Neue Gedichte, Rainer Maria Rilke. New Poems.
Reading aloud: Digital narration, directed by 1732 Studios.
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