Rhyme scheme is ABBA CDCD EEF GGF. Meter is primarily trochaic.
Heil dem Geist,[1] der uns verbinden mag;[2]
Hail the spirit, who may connect us;
denn wir leben wahrhaft in Figuren.[3]
For we truly live in configurations.
Und mit kleinen Schritten gehn[4] die Uhren
And with small steps the clocks go
neben unserm[5] eigentlichen[6]Tag.
alongside our individual day.
Ohne unsern wahren Platz[7] zu kennen,
Without knowing our true relation to each other,
handeln wir aus wirklichem Bezug.[8]
we act out of genuine affinity.
Die Antennen fühlen die Antennen,[9]
The antennas feel the antennas,
und die leere Ferne trug. . .[10]
and the empty distances convey. . .
Reine Spannung. O Musik der Kräfte![11]
O music of the forces
Ist nicht durch die läßlichen Geschäfte![12]
Is not through corrupting business
jede Störung![13] von dir[14] abgelenkt?
every disturbance distracted from you.
Selbst wenn sich der Bauer sorgt und handelt,
Even when the Farmer worries and acts,
wo die Saat in Sommer sich verwandelt,
where the seeds transform themselves as sommer goes on,
reicht er niemals hin.[15] Die Erde s c h e n k t[16]
he never really reaches thereto. The earth b e s t o w s.
Heil dem Geist, der uns verbinden mag;
Hail the spirit connecting us by chance;
denn wir leben wahrhaft in Figuren.
for in truth we live from figurations.
Und mit kleinen Schritten gehn die Uhren
And with smallest steps the clocks advance
neben unserm eigentlichen Tag.
alongside our real ministrations.
Ohne unsern wahren Platz zu kennen,
Even not knowing our true position,
handeln wir aus wirklichem Bezug.
we relate with actual affect.
Die Antennen fühlen die Antennen,
The antennas feel the antennas' emission,
und die leere Ferne trug. . .
and the vacuous distances connect. . .
Reine Spannung. O Musik der Kräfte!
Purest tension. Oh music most forceful!
Ist nicht durch die läßlichen Geschäfte
Do not thy venial acts annul
jede Störung von dir abgelenkt?
every distraction that over thee goes?
Selbst wenn sich der Bauer sorgt und handelt,
Even when the farmer cares and renders,
wo die Saat in Sommer sich verwandelt,
where the seeds transform themselves in sommers,
reicht er niemals hin. Die Erde s c h e n k t.
there can he never reach. The earth b e s t o w s.
[1] Heil dem Geist: The masculine noun "Heil" is used with the dative to express the concept of hailing or wishing long life to a person as in English "Hail the king" or "Long live the king." The dictionary definition of "hail" is "to greet or acclaim enthusiastically." The greeting is to the connecting spirit Orpheus.
[2] der uns verbinden mag: The "mag" from the modal verb "mögen" indicates an uncertainty that the spirit may be able to connect us.
[3] wir leben wahrhaft in Figuren: The adverb "wahrhaft" is an accepted short form of "wahrhaftig" and means "aufrichtig, jeder Lüge feind." The word "Figuren" refers back to the preceding sonnet "der Figur zu glauben," where "Figur" represented a chimera or "Wunschtraum" which would give us temporary satisfaction. In this sonnet the "Figur" has become "Figuren" which through the intermediatary of the spirit (Orpheus) have become central to our being.
[4] gehn: Syncope of "gehen." Syncope: Omission of a syllable or sound from the middle of a word.
[5] unserm: Syncope of "unserem." Syncope: Omission of a syllable or sound from the middle of a word.
[6] eigentlich: The second meaning of "eigentlich" in the Sprach Brockhaus is "in Wirklichkeit." This follows the usage of "wahrhaft" in vers 2 with a related meaning and "wahr" in verse 5, "wirklich" in verse 6 culminating in verse 9 with "Reine Spannung."
[7] unsern wahren Platz: First is the syncope of "unsern." We live "wahrhaft in Figuren," and now we are unaware of our proper place in this figurative world. Syncope: Omission of a syllable or sound from the middle of a word.
[8] aus wirklichem Bezug: The word "Bezug" or its three syllable correlate mainly referring to personal relations "Beziehung" is an important concept for Rilke. In the First Duino Elegy he describes the condition of being dead "Seltsam, alles, was sich bezog, so lose im Raume flattern zu sehn." Brockhaus defines "Bezug" simply as "Beziehung." Although we are not aware of our proper place, we are still able to relate effectively.
[9] Die Antennen fühlen die Antennen: This sonnet was written well before television, so the allusion is perhaps to radio, or, according to some sources to the antennas of insects communicating with each other. This is a continuation of our not knowing our proper place in the figurative world.
[10] die leere Ferne trug: First we have the assonance of the long double "e" sound followed by the long "e" of Ferne. The "trug," although with a completely different meaning from "trügt" in the preceding sonnet "Auch die sternische Verbindung trügt," carries over a certain element of doubt. The "emply spaces" could represent the area through which radio waves carry the message. It should be mentioned that the past participle of tragen "trug" is a homonym with "der Trug" which means "deceit or delusion," Homonym: Two or more words that have the same sound and often the same spelling but differ in meaning. Contrary to English, German has few homonyms.
[11] Reine Spannung. O Musik der Kräfte!: Two elliptical phrases maintaining the prevailing trochaic meter, the second of which is a summation of the first. The pure tension which is the music of the forces seems to relate to the apostrophe to Orpheus in the first line of the Sonnet and continues to emphasize the somewhat amorphous nature of this connection in an ecstatic manner. Ellipsis, plural ellipses: 1.a. The omission of a word or phrase necessary for a complete syntactical construction, but not necessary for understanding.
[12] die läßlichen Geschäfte: The word "läßlich" is generally used along with "Sünde" to mean "venial" or "pardonable" sins. Used with "Geschäfte" it adds an element of ironic emphasis to what are probably meant as daily trivial acts.
[13] jede Störung: The "disturbance" from which the reader is easily "distracted" comes apparently from the spirit attempting to connect us, i.e. Orpheus who is the "Reine Spannung" and "Die Musik der Kräfte." In the final tercet Rilke gives an example.
[14] dir: After the first verse's calling on Orpheus, the subsequent verses used the "wir" form. In this verse the emphasis falls on the individual reader. The "dir" is not capitalized, because that would have indicated a further apostrophe on Orpheus. Apostrophe: The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of a personified abstraction.
[15] reicht er niemals hin: The farmer takes great care and acts, but because these acts dirstract him from the true connection between him and the earth, he is never able to truly form the mystical Orphic merging therewith.
[16] s c h e n k t: Even lacking the direct connection, the farmer benefits through the earth's generousity. The fourth and most hard to discern example in this first edition of Sperrdruck which is an outmoded manner of emphasing without using italics or underlining. It consists of placing extra space between each letter of the word. In the first editions it is sometimes almost undiscernable as in this case. Later editions used italics whenever Rilke had written words or phrases in a latin script in his manuscripts, meaning not in the normal "Sütterlinschrift" which he used in his handwriting. However, when he wished his form of italics to be used, he underlined these words or phrases in the final handscript used for printing. Later editiors second-guessed his intentions and placed these latin script elements into italics. Sperrdruck: Extra spacing between letters of a word or phrase to add emphasis. An older form of italics.