German · New Poems: The Other Part

Spätherbst in Venedig

Late Autumn in Venice

14 lines · 14 notes

Tap a line to open its words. The mark beside it plays it.

1
Now the city no longer drifts like a lure,
Nunnownun · adverbdepends on treibt
treibtdriftstreiben · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
dietheder · determiner, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on Stadt
StadtcityStadt · noun, nominative, feminine, singulardepends on treibt
schonalreadyschon · adverbdepends on treibt
nichtnotnicht · particledepends on treibt
mehrlongermehr · adverbdepends on nicht
wielikewie · prepositiondepends on Köder
einaein · determiner, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on Köder
KöderlureKöder · noun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on treibt
GrammarVerb-second after a fronted now German main clauses keep the finite verb second. Fronting the adverb nun, 'now', pushes the subject die Stadt after the verb treibt, 'drifts'. schon nicht mehr stacks schon, 'already', with nicht mehr, 'no longer'.
WordBait, lure der Köder is bait on a hook, or a lure that draws prey. Venice is glossed as ein Köder, 'a lure', in this line. The image continues in the next line's fängt, 'catches'.
2
that catches every day that rises up.
WordTo surface, to emerge auftauchen, 'to surface, come up', is separable, formed from tauchen, 'to dive', plus auf-, 'up'. Its past participle aufgetauchten works as an adjective before Tage: die aufgetauchten Tage, 'the days that have surfaced'.
3
The glassy palaces ring more brittle
WordMade of glass gläsern is the adjective from das Glas, 'glass': 'of glass, glassy'. die gläsernen Paläste, 'the glass palaces', names Venice's palazzi. klingen, 'to ring, to sound', governs spröder, 'more brittle'.
4
against your gaze. And out of the gardens hangs
GrammarPreposition an takes accusative an takes the accusative when it marks contact toward something: an deinen Blick, 'against your gaze' (accusative deinen Blick). klingen spröder an deinen Blick means the palaces ring more brittle against your gaze.
5
the summer like a heap of marionettes
WordA heap of der Haufen means 'heap, pile'; followed by a bare noun it works like 'a heap of': ein Haufen Marionetten, 'a heap of marionettes', with Marionetten in the genitive of quantity.
6
head-down, weary, done to death.
WordHeadlong, upside down kopfüber, from Kopf, 'head', plus über, 'over', means 'head-first, headlong, upside down'. umgebracht is the past participle of umbringen, 'to kill, do away with': kopfüber, müde, umgebracht, 'head-down, weary, killed off'.
7
But from the depths, out of old forest skeletons,
GrammarFrom the bottom, aus plus dative vom is the fusion of von dem, 'from the'; der Grund means 'ground, bottom, depths'. aus, 'out of', takes the dative: aus alten Waldskeletten. das Waldskelett joins Wald, 'forest', and Skelett, 'skeleton'.
8
a will rises up: as if overnight
GrammarSeparable prefix comes last aufsteigen, 'to rise, climb, well up', is separable, so its prefix auf- lands at the line's end: steigt Willen auf, 'a will rises up'. als, 'as though', plus the subjunctive sollte, 'were to', opens a contrary-to-fact comparison.
9
the admiral of the sea were to double
GrammarGenitive marks of the sea des Meeres is the genitive of das Meer, 'the sea': der General des Meeres, 'the admiral of the sea'. He is the subject of verdoppeln in the next line, and die Galeeren, 'the galleys', is its object.
10
the galleys in the wakeful Arsenal,
11
to tar the very next morning air already
GrammarPurpose clause with teeren um … zu plus infinitive forms a purpose clause, 'in order to': um … die nächste Morgenluft zu teeren, 'in order to tar the next morning air'. teeren means 'to tar, to pitch'.
12
with a fleet which, plying its oars,
WordBeating with oars ruderschlagend is a coined present participle: Ruder, 'oar', plus schlagen, 'to beat, strike', giving 'beating its oars, plying the oars'. welche is the relative pronoun 'which', agreeing with the feminine eine Flotte, 'a fleet'.
13
presses forward and, abrupt, dawning with all its flags,
WordTo press forward, and to dawn sich drängen is reflexive, 'to press, crowd forward'; jäh means 'sudden, abrupt, sheer'. tagend is the present participle of tagen, 'to dawn, grow light': mit allen Flaggen tagend, 'dawning with all its flags'.
14
has the great wind, radiant and fatal.
GrammarVerb lands at clause end This closes the relative clause opened by welche: its verb hat, 'has', lands last, after the accusative object den großen Wind, 'the great wind'. strahlend is from strahlen, 'to shine'; fatal means 'fatal, baleful'.

The particulars

The text: Neue Gedichte, Rainer Maria Rilke. New Poems: The Other Part.
Reading aloud: Digital narration, directed by 1732 Studios.
The app: The same text on your phone, your place kept, the audio offline. The first poems free, the rest $4.99.
App Store Google Play
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
Data: JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents