German · New Poems: The Other Part

Tröstung des Elia

The Consoling of Elijah

27 lines · 26 notes

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1
He had done that and this — to raise once more the covenant
Erheer · pronoun, nominative, masculine, singulardepends on hatte
hattehadhaben · auxiliary verb, past, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
dasthatder · pronoun, accusative, neuter, singulardepends on getan
getandonetun · verb, participledepends on hatte
undandund · conjunctiondepends on getan
diesthisdieser · pronoun, accusative, neuter, singulardepends on und
dentheder · determiner, accusative, masculine, singulardepends on Bund
BundcovenantBund · noun, accusative, masculine, singulardepends on aufzubauen
WordNoun for a covenant Der Bund means a bond, league, or alliance, and in a religious context names the biblical covenant. It stands here in the accusative as the object of aufzubauen, 'to build up', in the next line, with den Bund placed ahead of its verb.
2
as well as that altar, to build them up again,
GrammarSeparable verb as zu-infinitive Aufbauen, 'to build up, to rebuild', is a separable verb. In a zu-infinitive, zu is inserted between the prefix and the stem, written as one word: aufzubauen. Wieder, 'again', modifies the whole phrase, giving 'to rebuild the covenant and that altar'.
3
to which his far-flung trust
WordCoined compound for flung far Weitgeschleudert joins weit, 'far', with geschleudert, the past participle of schleudern, 'to hurl, to fling'. It describes sein Vertrauen, 'his trust', as having been flung far out. Zu dem, 'to which', refers back to jenen Altar, the altar.
4
fell back as fire from afar, and
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had he not then cut hundreds to pieces,
WordPrefix zer- meaning to pieces Hauen means 'to strike, to hew'. The prefix zer- adds the sense of breaking something apart, so zerhauen means 'to cut, to hack to pieces'. Hunderte zerhauen means 'cut hundreds to pieces', the prophets of Baal killed after the contest on Carmel.
6
because they stank to him with Baal in their mouth,
GrammarStinken governing a dative Stinken, 'to stink', is joined here to the dative ihm, 'to him': sie stanken ihm means 'they stank to him', that is, they were loathsome to him. Stanken is the past tense of the strong verb stinken, stank, gestunken.
7
slaughtering at the brook until the grey of evening,
GrammarPresent participle used adverbially Schlachtend, 'slaughtering', is the present participle of schlachten, formed by adding -d to the infinitive. Used adverbially, it attaches an ongoing action to the main verb. Am Bache keeps the older dative -e ending on Bach, 'brook'.
8
which merged, vast, with the grey of the rain?
GrammarReflexive verb meaning to merge Sich verbinden mit means 'to combine, to merge with'. Das, sich groß verband means 'which merged, vast'; the relative das refers back to Abendgrauen, 'the grey of evening', joining it with dem Regengrau, 'the grey of the rain'. Verband is the past tense of verbinden.
9
But when the queen's messenger
GrammarVerb held to clause end Als is a subordinating conjunction, so the finite verb goes to the end of its clause, here antrat, held back to the next line. Als ihn der Bote antrat und bedrohte means 'when the messenger confronted and threatened him'. Von der Königin names whose messenger he is.
10
confronted and threatened him after such a day's work,
WordA separable verb of confrontation Antreten is separable and literally means 'to step up to' someone. Antrat is its past tense; in a main clause the prefix would split off as trat an. Werktag means 'working day'.
11
then he ran like a madman into the wilderness,
WordAn adjective used as a noun Ein Irrer is the adjective irre, 'deranged, lost', declined like a noun, giving 'a madman'. Da, 'then', opens the main clause and pushes the verb to second position: da lief er means 'then he ran'. In das Land means 'into the wilderness'.
12
so long, until beneath the broom-bush
WordA compound plant name Ginster is broom, the shrub Genista, and Strauch is a bush. Unterm Ginsterstrauche, 'beneath the broom-bush', shows unterm contracting unter dem, with the older dative ending -e on Strauche. So lange, bis means 'so long, until'.
13
he broke, as if cast away, into a cry,
WordTo break open, not set out Aufbrechen usually means 'to set out', but here it means 'to burst open': aufbrach in Geschrei is 'broke out into a cry'. Weggeworfen, the past participle of wegwerfen, 'to throw away', gives wie weggeworfen, 'as though cast away'. Geschrei means 'shouting, outcry'.
14
that roared in the desert: God, use
GrammarAn imperative addressed to God Gebrauche is the imperative of gebrauchen, 'to use, to make use of', addressed to Gott. Its object mich continues into the next line: Gott, gebrauche mich länger nicht, 'God, use me no longer'. Das brüllte, 'that roared', refers back to the cry.
15
me no longer. I am broken in two.
WordA word meaning broken in two Entzwei is an adverb built from in zwei, 'into two', and means 'in two, apart, broken'. Ich bin entzwei means 'I am broken in two, I am in pieces'. It closes the sentence begun two lines earlier with the command gebrauche.
16
But just then the angel came to feed him
WordAn old word for feeding Ätzen usually means 'to corrode, to etch', but here it carries an older sense, 'to feed', as a bird feeds its young. Kam ihn der Engel ätzen means 'the angel came to feed him', with ihn as the accusative object. It is a variant spelling of the separate verb atzen.
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with a food that he received deep within,
WordFood and a verb for receiving Die Speise means 'food, nourishment, a dish', a more formal word than das Essen. Empfing is the past tense of the strong verb empfangen, 'to receive'. Die er tief empfing means 'which he received deep within'.
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so that for a long time then, past pastures
GrammarA result clause sends the verb late So daß, the older spelling of so dass, means 'so that' and introduces a clause of result, sending its finite verb to the end, here ging, held back a line. So daß er lange dann ging means 'so that he then walked for a long time'.
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and waters, walked on and on toward the mountain,
WordA collective noun for mountains Das Gebirge is a mountain range, built from the collective prefix Ge- on Berg, 'mountain'. Zum Gebirge ging means 'walked toward the mountains', zum contracting zu dem. Immer here means 'on and on', marking the length of the walk.
20
to which the Lord came for his sake:
GrammarA fixed phrase for his sake Um willen means 'for the sake of' and wraps around its object; with a pronoun it takes special forms like meinetwillen and seinetwillen. Um seinetwillen means 'for his sake'. Zu dem kam means 'to which it came', with dem pointing back to Gebirge.
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not in the storm, and not in the splitting-apart
GrammarA reflexive verb made a noun The infinitive of sich zerspalten, 'to split itself apart', is capitalized with its reflexive pronoun kept, making the noun das Sich-Zerspalten, 'the splitting-apart'. Nicht und nicht, 'not and not', lists what the Lord was not in, as in the account in Kings.
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of the earth, along which, in heavy folds,
GrammarA preposition placed after its noun Entlang, 'along', here follows its noun and governs the dative: der entlang means 'along which', with der reaching back to der Erde, 'the earth'. Der Erde is a genitive completing Sich-Zerspalten der Erde, 'the earth's splitting apart'.
23
an empty fire moved, almost as if from shame
WordA preposition naming a motive Aus plus a bare noun names a motive, so aus Scham means 'out of shame', on the pattern of aus Angst, 'out of fear'. Ein leeres Feuer ging means 'an empty fire moved', continuing the list of things the Lord was not in.
24
at the monstrous thing's well-rested
GrammarA genitive built from an adjective Das Ungeheure is the adjective 'monstrous, immense' used as a noun; des Ungeheuren is its genitive, 'of the monstrous thing', depending on Hinstürzen two lines further on. Ausgeruhtes, the past participle of sich ausruhen, 'to rest', is a neuter adjective agreeing with that noun.
25
plunging-down toward the old man who had arrived,
WordFalling turned into a noun Hinstürzen is separable and means 'to plunge or crash down' toward a point away from the speaker; das Hinstürzen makes it a noun, 'the plunging-down'. Angekommnen shortens the past participle angekommen, from ankommen, 'to arrive'. Der Alte means 'the old man'.
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who, in the gentle rushing of his blood,
WordA noun for a rushing sound Sausen means 'to rush, to whir, to swish', of wind or fast motion; das Sausen, its noun form, is that whirring sound. Im sanften Sausen seines Blutes means 'in the gentle rushing of his blood', with seines Blutes a genitive.
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took it in, startled and covered over.
GrammarThe delayed main verb of perceiving Vernahm is the past tense of the strong verb vernehmen, 'to perceive, to take in', the long-delayed verb of the relative clause opened by der, 'who'. Erschreckt, 'startled', and zugedeckt, 'covered over', are past participles describing the subject; ihn, the object, stands in the line before.

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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