German · New Poems

Sappho an Alkaïos

Sappho to Alcaeus

20 lines · 19 notes

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1
And what, then, would you have to say to me,
UndAndund · conjunctiondepends on hättest
waswhatwas · pronoun, accusative, neuter, singulardepends on hättest
hättestwould havehaben · auxiliary verb, past, subjunctive, second-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
duyoudu · pronoun, nominative, singulardepends on hättest
mirto memir · pronoun, dative, singulardepends on sagen
dennthendenn · particledepends on sagen
zutozu · particledepends on sagen
sagensaysagen · verb, infinitivedepends on hättest
GrammarA subjunctive making a question rhetorical hättest is the subjunctive form of haben, 'you would have'. Combined with zu sagen, 'to say', it poses a hypothetical question rather than a plain one, closer to 'what could you possibly have to say'.
2
and what concern of my soul are you,
GrammarA separable verb meaning concern jemanden angehen means 'to concern someone'. As a separable verb its prefix an splits off and moves to the end of the clause, so was gehst du meine Seele an reads literally 'what do you concern my soul'.
3
when your eyes are cast down
WordA set idiom for lowered eyes die Augen niederschlagen literally means 'to strike the eyes down', but as a fixed idiom it means 'to lower one's eyes', a gesture of shyness or shame. The reflexive sich niederschlagen here makes the eyes drop on their own.
4
before the near, the unsaid thing? Man,
WordThe unsaid turned into a noun Rilke turns the negated participle nicht gesagt, 'not said', into a single noun, das Nichtgesagte, 'the unsaid'. vor dem nahen Nichtgesagten means 'before the near, unsaid thing'.
5
look — the saying of these things has
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swept us away, even into fame.
WordA participle spanning a line break hinreißen means 'to carry away, to enrapture'; hingerissen is its past participle. The clause runs over the line break, uns hat das Sagen dieser Dinge hingerissen, 'the saying of these things has swept us away'.
7
When I think: among you it would fade,
GrammarA subjunctive for an imagined case vergehen means 'to pass away, to fade'. verginge is its subjunctive form, marking something that would happen only in an imagined case. Its subject does not appear until the next line, so the verb comes first.
8
meagerly, our sweet girlhood,
WordThe suffix -tum names a state Mädchen, 'girl', combines with the suffix -tum, as in Heldentum, 'heroism', to form Mädchentum, 'girlhood' as a state. dürftig means 'scanty, meager'. The line says this girlhood would dwindle among men.
9
which we — I, the knowing one, and those
GrammarA relative pronoun spanning a stanza welches is a relative pronoun, 'which', neuter to agree with Mädchentum from the stanza before. Its verb, trugen, does not appear until several lines later. ich Wissende means 'I, the knowing one', using the present participle of wissen as a noun.
10
knowing with me, guarded by the god,
Grammarvon names the passive agent bewachen means 'to guard, to watch over'; bewacht is its past participle. vom, short for von dem, names who performs the action in a passive construction, 'guarded by the god'.
11
bore untouched, so that Mytilene
GrammarA verb finally arrives trugen is the simple past of tragen, 'to carry, to bear'. It is the main verb of the relative clause opened several lines earlier by welches, 'which we bore untouched'. daß, the older spelling of dass, opens a further clause after it.
12
like an apple orchard in the night
13
was fragrant with the growth of our breasts—.
WordA simple past for giving off scent duften means 'to smell sweet, to give off a scent'; duftete is its simple past. vom Wachsen uses the infinitive of wachsen, 'to grow', turned into a noun, so the phrase means 'fragrant with the growing of our breasts'.
GrammarA dash held open before the period Rilke ends this stanza with a dash immediately followed by a period. The dash marks the sentence trailing off before the period closes it, kept here exactly as printed in the poem.
14
Yes, of these breasts too, which you did not
15
choose as if for garlands of fruit, you suitor
WordA compound naming fruit garlands Fruchtgewinde joins Frucht, 'fruit', with Gewinde, 'garland, coil', naming the kind of garland hung at a harvest feast. wie zu Fruchtgewinden compares the choosing to picking fruit for such garlands. wähltest is the past tense of wählen, 'to choose'.
WordAn older word for a suitor der Freier is an older word for a 'suitor', someone courting for marriage, from the verb freien, 'to woo'. It sits at the end of the line and carries over as an address into the next line.
16
with your face turned downward and away.
WordA coined compound for a turned face senken means 'to lower, to sink'; the prefix weg- adds 'away'. weggesenkt, 'sunk away, lowered aside', is Rilke's own coinage describing das Angesicht, an elevated word for 'face', turned downward and aside.
17
Go and leave me, so that to my lyre
GrammarTwo familiar-form commands Geh, from gehen, 'to go', and laß, an older spelling of lass, from lassen, 'to leave', are both familiar-form (du) imperatives. laß mich means 'leave me alone'. die Leier is 'the lyre', the instrument of Sappho's poetry.
18
may come what you hold back: all stands ready.
GrammarA subjunctive expressing a wish komme is the subjunctive form of kommen, used here as a wish, 'may it come'. abhalten is a separable verb meaning 'to hold back, to keep off'; du abhältst means 'you hold back'.
19
This god is not the helper of a pair,
GrammarThe genitive form of two zweier is the genitive form of zwei, 'two', meaning 'of two, of a pair'. der Beistand zweier means 'the support of two people'. der Beistand means 'aid, the one who stands by'.
20
but when he passes through the one
Grammardurch takes the accusative durch, 'through', governs the accusative case, here den einen, 'the one person'. The poem ends on this clause with no closing punctuation, leaving wenn er … geht, 'when he passes through', without a stated result.

The particulars

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