German · New Poems

Römische Sarkophage

Roman Sarcophagi

14 lines · 13 notes

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1
But what prevents us from believing that
Waswhatwas · pronoun, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on hindert
aberbutaber · adverbdepends on hindert
hindertpreventshindern · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
unsusuns · pronoun, accusative, pluraldepends on hindert
zutozu · particledepends on glauben
glaubenbelieveglauben · verb, infinitivedepends on hindert
daßthatdaß · subordinating conjunctiondepends on glauben
Grammarhindern plus a zu-infinitive hindern, 'to hinder, prevent', takes an accusative object plus a zu-infinitive: uns zu glauben means 'us from believing'. daß, the old spelling of dass, sends the verb of its own clause to the end.
2
(set down and parcelled out as we are)
WordTwo participles in a passive hinstellen means 'to set down, place there'; verteilen means 'to distribute, spread out, parcel'. Both appear as past participles in a passive, sind … hingestellt … und verteilt: 'we have been put in place and dealt out'.
3
that only for a little while do urge and hatred
WordA pressing, restless impulse Drang means 'urge, drive, pressing impulse', related to drängen, 'to press, push'. Paired with Haß, 'hatred', old spelling of Hass, it names the restless forces of the living self. nicht … nur works with verweilt in the next line.
4
and this confusion linger in us,
GrammarA present participle turned abstract noun verwirrend, 'confusing', is the present participle of verwirren, 'to confuse'. Capitalized with a neuter article it becomes an abstract noun, das Verwirrende, 'that which confuses'. verweilen means 'to linger, dwell'.
5
as once within the ornamented sarcophagus,
Grammarwie launches a long comparison wie, 'as, like', opens the simile that runs through the whole next stanza; einst means 'once, formerly, long ago'. verziert, 'ornamented', is the past participle of verzieren; the dative in dem … Sarkophag marks a fixed location.
6
amid rings, images of gods, glasses, ribbons,
Grammarbei always takes the dative bei, 'by, amid, among', always governs the dative, so every noun in this list carries the dative-plural -n: Ringen, Götterbildern, Gläsern, Bändern. das Götterbild means 'image of a god'. These are the grave-goods buried beside the body.
7
in garments slowly consuming themselves,
WordA reflexive participle before its noun sich verzehren means 'to consume, waste oneself away'. The reflexive present participle is folded into an extended phrase before its noun: langsam sich verzehrenden Gewändern, 'garments slowly wasting themselves away'.
8
a thing slowly dissolved lay—
GrammarA past participle used as a noun aufgelöst is the past participle of auflösen, 'to dissolve, decompose'. Capitalized with the neuter article, ein … Aufgelöstes becomes a noun for an unnamed thing, 'a slowly dissolved thing'. lag is the simple past of liegen, 'to lie'.
9
until the unknown mouths swallowed it down,
Grammarbis sends its verb to the end bis, 'until', is a subordinating conjunction, so the finite verb schluckten, 'swallowed', from schlucken, goes to the very end of the clause. die unbekannten Munde, 'the unknown mouths', is the subject; Munde is an older plural of Mund.
10
that never speak. (Where does there exist and think
11
a brain, to make use of them one day?)
Grammarsich bedienen governs the genitive sich bedienen means 'to make use of', and it governs the genitive: ihrer here is the genitive 'of them'. um … zu frames purpose, so um ihrer … sich zu bedienen means 'in order to make use of them'. einst means 'one day'.
12
Then from the ancient aqueducts there was
Grammarwerden plus a participle forms the passive wurde, past of werden, pairs with the participle eingelenkt at the end of the next line to form the passive, 'was channelled in'. da means 'then'. von den alten Aquädukten, 'from the old aqueducts', names the source.
13
eternal water guided into them—:
Wordeinlenken, to steer or channel in einlenken means literally 'to steer, guide, channel in'. ewiges Wasser in sie eingelenkt means 'eternal water channelled into them', with sie referring back to the sarcophagi.
14
and now it mirrors and moves and gleams in them.
GrammarOne subject, three verbs in a row das, 'it', resumes ewiges Wasser as the subject of three present-tense verbs strung together: spiegelt, 'mirrors', from spiegeln; geht, 'moves'; and glänzt, 'gleams'. in ihnen, dative plural, means 'in them', the sarcophagi.

The particulars

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