German · New Poems

Römische Fontäne

Roman Fountain

14 lines · 14 notes

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1
Two basins, one rising above the other
Zweitwozwei · numeraldepends on Becken
BeckenbasinsBecken · noun, nominative, neuter, pluralhead of the phrase
einsoneeins · pronoun, nominative, neuter, singularsubject of übersteigend
dastheder · determiner, accusative, neuter, singulardepends on andre
andreotherandere · pronoun, accusative, neuter, singulardepends on übersteigend
übersteigendrising aboveübersteigen · verb, participledepends on Becken
Wordübersteigen, to rise above übersteigend is the present participle of übersteigen, 'to climb over' or 'surmount', used here as an adjective for one basin surmounting the other. It is the first of a chain of present participles running through the poem: übersteigend, neigend, entgegenschweigend, zeigend.
2
out of an old round rim of marble,
WordA marble-and-rim compound Marmorrand joins Marmor, 'marble', and Rand, 'edge' or 'rim', in one compound noun, stressed on the first element. It is dative here after aus, 'out of', with the case masked by the adjective ending -en on alten and runden.
3
and from the upper water, softly inclining
GrammarReflexive present participle sich neigen is reflexive, 'to bend' or 'incline'. As a present participle, sich neigend means 'inclining itself'. leis is the poetic short form of leise, 'soft', with the final -e dropped.
4
toward the water that stood waiting below,
GrammarA relative pronoun, neuter welches is the neuter relative pronoun, 'which' or 'that', agreeing with neuter Wasser. It is a more formal alternative to das. wartend stand pairs the participle wartend, 'waiting', with the simple past stand, 'stood'.
5
keeping silence toward the softly speaking one,
GrammarA coined compound verb entgegenschweigend fuses the separable prefix entgegen-, 'toward', with schweigen, 'to be silent', meaning 'to keep silence toward something'. dem leise redenden, 'to the softly speaking one', is the dative object entgegen- points toward.
6
and secretly, as if in its cupped hand
WordA word for as it were gleichsam is an adverb meaning 'as it were' or 'so to speak', softening a comparison. Here it modifies in der hohlen Hand, 'in the cupped hand', treating the phrase as a loose approximation.
7
showing it the sky behind green and dark
GrammarParticiple with a dative object zeigend is the present participle of zeigen, 'to show', continuing the participle chain from earlier lines. ihm is its dative indirect object, 'it', and Himmel, 'the sky', is the accusative direct object.
8
like some unknown object;
Wordder Gegenstand, an object der Gegenstand means 'an object' or 'thing', literally what stands against or opposite. wie einen unbekannten Gegenstand, 'like some unknown object', takes the accusative after wie in this comparison.
9
spreading itself calmly in the lovely bowl,
GrammarDoubled reflexive for emphasis sich selber doubles the reflexive sich with the intensifier selber, 'itself', for emphasis. Here it modifies ruhig, 'calmly', as part of the phrase describing something spreading of its own accord.
10
without homesickness, circle out of circle,
WordA compound for homesickness das Heimweh literally means 'home-pain', and idiomatically 'homesickness', the ache of missing home. ohne Heimweh, 'without homesickness', is accusative after ohne, 'without'.
11
only at times, dreamily and drop by drop,
WordThe suffix -weis tropfenweis attaches the suffix -weis to Tropfen, 'drop', to form an adverb meaning 'by drops' or 'drop by drop'. German builds several such manner adverbs this way, for example stückweise, 'piece by piece'.
12
settling down along the hanging moss,
GrammarReflexive present participle sich niederlassen means 'to settle down' or 'come to rest'. As a present participle, sich niederlassend means 'settling itself down', continuing the chain of participles describing continuous motion in this stanza.
13
to the last mirror, which makes its basins softly
Wordder Spiegel, a mirror der Spiegel means 'mirror', here used for a still, reflecting pool of water. zum letzten Spiegel, 'to the last mirror', is dative after zu, 'to', marking the destination.
14
smile from below with passages overhead.
GrammarInfinitive as direct object lächeln, 'to smile', is used here as an infinitive object of macht, 'makes': lächeln macht, 'makes to smile', meaning 'causes to smile'. mit Übergängen, 'with passages', is dative after mit, 'with'.

The particulars

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