German · New Poems

Sappho an Eranna

Sappho to Eranna

5 lines · 8 notes

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1
Unrest I want to bring over you,
UnruhunrestUnruh · noun, accusative, feminine, singulardepends on bringen
willwantwollen · auxiliary verb, present, indicative, first-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
ichIich · pronoun, nominative, singulardepends on will
überoverüber · prepositiondepends on bringen
dichyoudich · pronoun, accusative, singulardepends on über
bringenbringbringen · verb, infinitivedepends on will
WordA short form meaning unrest Unruh is a short poetic form of Unruhe, 'restlessness, disquiet', built from un- and Ruhe, 'rest, calm'. Placed first in the poem, it is the accusative object of bringen and names what Sappho promises to give.
Grammarwollen with inverted word order will is the first-person form of the modal wollen, 'to want', governing the infinitive bringen at the end of the line. Because the object Unruh comes first, subject and verb invert to ich will. The modal expresses intent, 'I mean to bring'.
2
swing you I want to, wreathed staff.
WordA staff wound with vines der Stab means 'a staff, rod'. umrankt is the past participle of umranken, 'to twine around', from die Ranke, 'vine tendril'. An umrankter Stab is a staff wound with climbing vines, which Sappho says she will schwingen, 'swing, brandish'.
3
Like dying I want to pierce through you
WordAn infinitive made into a noun sterben means 'to die'. Capitalized as das Sterben, it becomes a noun meaning 'dying, the act of dying', distinct from der Tod, 'death' as a state. Wie das Sterben, 'like dying', compares it to how Sappho will durchdringen, 'pierce through', Eranna.
GrammarAn inseparable prefix stays fixed durchdringen means 'to penetrate, to suffuse'. Because the stress falls on dringen, the prefix durch- is inseparable and never splits off. As the infinitive after the modal will, it sits whole at the end of the line.
4
and pass you onward like the grave
GrammarTwo infinitives share one modal weitergeben means 'to pass on, to hand onward'; weiter-, 'onward', is its separable prefix. It stays joined here because it is a second infinitive sharing will from the line before, alongside durchdringen.
5
to the All: to all these things.
Wordalles turned into a noun alles usually means 'everything'. Capitalized with an article, das Alles becomes a noun meaning 'the All, the whole of existence'. an das Alles, 'to the All', uses an with the accusative to name the recipient.
GrammarA dative plural restates the noun allen diesen Dingen is the dative plural of alle diese Dinge, 'all these things'; the -n endings on allen, diesen, and Dingen all mark that case. After the colon it restates das Alles in different words, though the two do not match in case.

The particulars

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