German · New Poems

Quai du Rosaire

20 lines · 18 notes

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

1
The lanes have a gentle gait
Dietheder · determiner, nominative, feminine, pluraldepends on Gassen
GassenlanesGasse · noun, nominative, feminine, pluraldepends on haben
habenhavehaben · auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, pluralmain verb of the sentence
einenaein · determiner, accusative, masculine, singulardepends on Gang
sachtengentlesacht · adjective, accusative, masculine, singulardepends on Gang
GanggaitGang · noun, accusative, masculine, singulardepends on haben
Wordsacht and der Gang sacht means 'soft, gentle, unhurried', describing motion. der Gang here is not a corridor but a way of walking, a gait or pace. einen sachten Gang haben means 'to have a gentle gait'.
2
(the way people sometimes walk while convalescing,
GrammarA nominalized infinitive genesen, 'to recover, convalesce', is turned into a neuter noun, das Genesen, simply by capitalizing the infinitive. With in dem contracted to im, im Genesen means 'in the state of recovering'.
3
thinking: what was here before?)
GrammarPresent participle as adverb nachdenkend is the present participle of the separable verb nachdenken, 'to ponder, reflect', formed with the ending -d. Used adverbially here, it describes how the subject walks: 'thinking, musing'. The prefix nach- stays fused in this form.
4
and the ones that reach the squares wait long
Grammardie used as a relative pronoun Here die is not the article but a relative pronoun meaning 'those which', referring back to die Gassen, 'the lanes'. It opens a relative clause, die an Plätze kommen, 'which come to squares', so its verb kommen stands at the clause's end.
5
for another that, with a single step,
GrammarA verb paired with a preposition warten, 'to wait', takes the preposition auf with the accusative for the thing awaited: warten auf eine andre means 'to wait for another'. eine andre is the accusative object of auf, split across two lines.
6
steps across the evening-clear water,
WordA coined compound adjective abendklar joins Abend, 'evening', and klar, 'clear', giving 'clear as the evening' or 'clear with evening light'. German lets a writer weld two words into one adjective this way, with no fixed dictionary entry. It modifies das Wasser, 'the water'.
7
in which, the more the things around grow softer,
GrammarA correlative je mehr comparison je plus a comparative sets up a 'the more, the more' construction. je mehr sich die Dinge mildern, 'the more the things soften', is answered later by so wirklich wird, 'the more real it becomes'. Because the je clause is subordinate, its verb mildern comes last.
8
the hung-in world of mirror-images
Wordeinhängen becomes eingehängte einhängen means 'to hang in, hook in, suspend within'. Used as a past participle before a noun, eingehängte Welt means 'the world hung in'. Spiegelbild means 'mirror-image', and von Spiegelbildern is dative plural after von.
9
grows as real as these things never are.
GrammarAn elliptical comparison so wirklich, wie diese Dinge nie literally reads 'as real as these things never'. The verb is omitted after nie, 'never', which German allows in a so, wie comparison. The implied sense adds 'are' at the end.
10
Did this city not pass away? Now you see how
Grammarvergehen in the simple past vergehen means 'to pass away, fade, perish'. verging is its simple past tense, third person singular. Fronted to open the question Verging nicht diese Stadt, it asks 'did this city not pass away'. ver- is inseparable, so it never detaches from the stem.
11
(by some incomprehensible law)
Grammarnach plus the dative nach here means 'according to, in accordance with' and governs the dative, giving nach einem Gesetz, 'according to a law'. unbegreiflich, 'incomprehensible', is built on begreifen, 'to grasp, comprehend'.
12
it grows awake and distinct in the reversed,
Worddas Umgestellte as a noun umstellen means 'to rearrange, transpose, turn around'. Its past participle umgestellt is used here as a neuter noun, das Umgestellte, 'that which has been turned around'. im Umgestellten is dative after in, contracted to im.
13
as if life there were not so rare;
GrammarA subjunctive for an unreal comparison als, 'as though', combined with a subjunctive verb introduces a hypothetical comparison. wäre is the subjunctive form of sein, 'to be'. als wäre dort das Leben nicht so selten means 'as though life there were not so rare'.
14
the gardens hang there now, large, and hold sway,
WordA verb used without an object gelten means 'to be valid, to count, to hold good, to carry weight'. Here it appears without an object: die Gärten gelten, 'the gardens hold sway'. It is third person plural present, coordinated with hängen by und.
15
there, suddenly, behind swiftly lit
GrammarA reflexive verb with a delayed subject sich drehen means 'to turn, spin, revolve'. Its subject, der Tanz, 'the dance', only appears on the next line, so dort dreht sich plötzlich der Tanz means 'there the dance suddenly turns'. erhellt, 'lit', is the past participle of erhellen.
16
windows the dance turns in the taverns.
17
And above, what stayed?—Only the stillness, I think,
GrammarAn elliptical question with bleiben bleiben means 'to remain, stay'. blieb is its simple past tense. The question Und oben blieb drops its subject, asking 'and what remained above', and is answered after the dash by Die Stille nur, 'only the stillness'.
18
and slowly, pressed by nothing, it tastes
Wordkosten meaning to taste kosten has two senses: 'to cost' and 'to taste, savor'. Here it is the second: kostet Beere um Beere means 'tastes berry after berry'. von nichts gedrängt means 'urged on by nothing', from drängen, 'to press, urge'.
19
berry after berry from the sweet cluster
GrammarNoun um noun for repetition The pattern noun um noun with no article means 'one after another': Beere um Beere means 'berry after berry'. aus der süßen Traube is dative after aus, 'out of'; die Traube means 'cluster, bunch'.
20
of the carillon hanging in the heavens.

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