German · New Poems: The Other Part

San Marco

14 lines · 19 notes

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1
In this interior, which as if hollowed out
Ininin · prepositiondepends on wölbt
diesemthisdieser · determiner, dative, neuter, singulardepends on Innern
InnerninteriorInnere · noun, dative, neuter, singulardepends on In
daswhichder · pronoun, nominative, neuter, singulardepends on ausgehöhlt
wieas ifwie · prepositiondepends on ausgehöhlt
ausgehöhlthollowed outaushöhlen · verb, participledepends on das
GrammarAn adjective used as a noun das Innere, 'the interior, the inside', is the adjective inner turned into a neuter noun, so it still takes adjective endings. After the dative in diesem it becomes in diesem Innern, 'in this interior'.
WordHollowed out Past participle of the separable verb aushöhlen, 'to hollow out, scoop out', from hohl, 'hollow'. wie ausgehöhlt means 'as though hollowed out', a cavity carved into a mass rather than built up from parts.
2
vaults and turns itself into the golden mosaics,
WordTo arch, to vault The reflexive sich wölben means 'to arch, to curve, to form a vault', from die Wölbung, 'the vault, the dome'. It is paired here with sich wendet, 'turns itself'.
WordThe mosaic glass die Smalte, here plural Smalten, is smalt, the small cubes of colored, gold-backed glass, tesserae, used to set Byzantine mosaics. The upper interior of San Marco is sheathed in this gold smalt.
3
round-edged, smooth, oiled with preciousness,
WordSoftened, rounded edges A compound of rund, 'round', and die Kante, 'edge': 'with rounded edges'. It names how the worn marble and mosaic have no sharp corners; every surface is smoothed.
4
this State's darkness was held
GrammarArchaic past of werden ward is the old, poetic simple past of werden, 'to become', now usually wurde. With the participle gehalten it forms a passive: ward … gehalten, 'was held'.
GrammarA fronted genitive phrase dieses Staates is the genitive of der Staat, 'the State', placed before its noun: dieses Staates Dunkelheit, 'this State's darkness'. Plain prose would say die Dunkelheit dieses Staates.
5
and secretly heaped up, as a counterweight
GrammarSeparable verb aufhäufen aufgehäuft is the past participle of the separable verb aufhäufen, 'to heap up, pile up, amass', from der Haufen, 'heap'. It continues the passive: ward … gehalten und … aufgehäuft, 'was held and heaped up'.
WordBalance, counterweight das Gleichgewicht, 'equilibrium, balance', literally 'equal-weight', here names a counterpoise: das Gleichgewicht des Lichtes, the weight set against the light. The genitive des Lichtes continues into the next line.
6
of the light, which in all its things
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so multiplied that they almost passed away.
WordTo multiply, to increase The reflexive sich vermehren means 'to multiply, to increase, to proliferate'. vermehrte sich so means 'multiplied itself so much', governing the daß-clause that names the result in the next line.
GrammarPast tense of vergehen vergingen is the simple past of vergehen, 'to pass away, vanish, fade'. daß sie fast vergingen means 'so that they nearly passed away'; the subject sie is all the light's things.
8
And suddenly you doubt: are they not passing away?
GrammarThe shift to second person zweifeln means 'to doubt, to be unsure': zweifelst du, 'you doubt'. The clause turns from describing the church to addressing a du, 'you'. vergehn sie nicht? means 'are they not vanishing?'.
9
and you push back the hard gallery,
GrammarSeparable verb zurückdrängen drängst … zurück is the present tense of the separable verb zurückdrängen, 'to push back, force back', with the prefix zurück- placed after the object. Its object is die harte Galerie, the hard gallery.
10
which, like a passage in a mine, near the gleam
WordA mine shaft der Gang here is a passage or gallery; das Bergwerk is a mine. ein Gang im Bergwerk means 'a passage in a mine', a tunnel modifying die Galerie.
11
of the vault hangs; and you recognize the whole
WordWhole, unbroken heil means 'whole, intact, sound, unhurt', the root of heilen, 'to heal'. die heile Helle des Ausblicks means 'the whole, unbroken brightness of the view', with Helle waiting in the next stanza.
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brightness of the view out: but somehow
WordThe view out der Ausblick is the view or outlook, from ausblicken, 'to look out'. Helle des Ausblicks means 'brightness of the view out'. aber irgendwie, 'but somehow', opens the sentence that follows the colon.
13
wistfully measuring its weary while
WordWistful, melancholy wehmütig means 'wistful, melancholy, mournful', from das Weh, 'woe', and der Mut, 'spirit'. It modifies messend, 'measuring', describing how ihre müde Weile, 'its weary while', is measured.
WordA while, a span die Weile is 'a while, a span of time', as in eine Weile, 'for a while'. ihre müde Weile means 'its weary while'; messend is the present participle of messen, 'to measure'.
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against the near outlasting of the four-horse team.
WordEnduring, outlasting das Überstehn is the noun formed from überstehen, 'to survive, endure, outlast', and also literally 'to stand over'. am nahen Überstehn des Viergespanns means 'against the near outlasting of the four-horse team'.

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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