Rhyme scheme is ABBA CDCD EFG EFG. The poem is predominately in the dactylic meter which befits a poem of dance with a meter similar to waltz meter with several syncopations and a few lapses into anapest at the end of the poem. Reminiscent of Goethe's "Kennst du das Land" in Wilhelm Meister.
Wartet . . . das schmeckt . . . Schon ists auf der Flucht.[1]
Wait . . . that tastes good . . . It is already fleeing.
. . . Wenig Musik nun, ein Stampfen, ein Summen--:[2]
Just a little music now, a stamping, a humming--:
Mädchen, ihr warmen, Mädchen ihr stummen,[3]
Young girls, you warm ones, young girls, you silent ones,
tanz den Geschmack der erfahrenen Frucht![4]
dance the taste of the experienced fruit!
Tanzt die Orange.[5] Wer kann sie vergessen,
Dance to the orange. Who can forget it,
wie sie, ertrinkend in sich,[6] sich[7] wehrt
as it, drowning in itself, defends itself
wider ihr Süßsein.[8] Ihr habt sie besessen.[9]
against its sweetness. You have possessed it.
Sie hat sich köstlich zu euch bekehrt.[10]
It has deliciously evolved itself into you.
Tanzt die Orange. Die wärmere Landschaft,[11]
Dance to the orange. The warmer landscape,
werft sie[12] aus euch, daß die reife erstrahle
throw it from yourselves, that the ripeness stream forth
in Lüften der Heimat![13] Erglühte, enthüllt
into the air of the homeland! Oh you glowing ones, uncover
Düfte um Düfte![14] Schafft die Verwandschaft
aroma upon aroma! Create the relationship
mit der reinen, sich weigernden Schale,[15]
with the pure within itself resisiting peel,
mit dem Saft,[16] der die glückliche[17] füllt!
with the juice, which fills the favored one!
Wartet . . . das schmeckt . . . Schon ists auf der Flucht.
Wait now . . . tastes good . . . It's already en route.
. . . Wenig Musik nun, ein Stampfen, ein Summen --:
. . . A little music, a stamping, a humming--:
Mädchen, ihr warmen, Mädchen ihr stummen,
Ladies, you warming, Ladies, you mumming,
tanz den Geschmack der erfahrenen Frucht!
Dance the good taste of the experienced fruit!
Tanst die Orange. Wer kann sie vergessen,
Dance to the Orange now. Who can forget it,
wie sie, ertrinkend in sich, sich wehrt
as it, in itself drowning, itself does defend
wider ihr Süßsein. Ihr habt sie besessen.
against its sweetness. It has submitted.
Sie hat sich köstlich zu euch bekehrt.
It deliciously on your will does depend.
Tanzt die Orange. Die wärmere Landschaft,
Dance to the orange now. The warmer landscape,
werft sie aus euch, daß die reife erstrahle
throw it from you, that its ripeness congeal
in Lüften der Heimat! Erglühte, enthüllt
into the air of the homeland! Oh you glowing ones, lay bare
Düfte um Düfte! Schafft die Verwandschaft
Aromas round aromas! A relation reshape
mit der reinen, sich weigernden Schale,
with the pure, nonconsenting peel,
mit dem Saft, der die glückliche füllt!
with the juice, that overfills the one so fair!
[1] Wartet . . . das schmeckt . . . Schon ists auf der Flucht.: A hesitant introduction to the following dance using the ellipsis like a rest sign in musical notation, the Synaloepha of "ists" serving as a syncopation. Only with "ists auf der" do we have a uninterrupted dactylic foot. Note that Rilke omits the apostrophe as usual. Also note that the subject of these fragmented phrases is only present in the pronouns "das" and [e]s. Ellipsis: The omission of a word or phrase necessary for a complete syntactical construction, but not necessary for understanding. Synaloepha: Omission of a vowel to contract two words into one such as "don't," "it's." Dactyl: A metrical foot consisting of one long syllable followed by two short ones.
[2] . . . Wenig Musik nur, ein Stampfen, ein Summen --: Again beginning with an ellipsis, but then continuing with a somewhat hesitant dactylic meter because of the commas after "nur" and Stampfen." The concluding punctuation somewhat enigmatically indicating that everything preceding is parenthetical and everything thereafter is the main dance. Dactyl: A metrical foot consisting of one long syllable followed by two short ones.
[3] Mädchen ihr warmen, Mädchen ihr stummen: The first of a series of apostrophes directed toward the "Mächen" who are addressed using the "ihr" form command which is normally the same as the ihr form command in the present tense. A construction such as "Mädchen ihr warmen" or in verse 11 simply "Erglühte"is called an "Anredenominativ" which is the German term for Vocative. It is normally separated by a comma before the following statement or command. After personal pronouns the weak adjective ending is normally used, especially after "ihr." As we have seen in earlier sonnets two succesive adonic phrases where we twice have a dactylic foot followed by a trochaic one. The beginning verse of the following quartet repeats the "Mädchen ihr warmen" and the two tercets begin also with adonic phrases. There is also a one syllable Binnenreim with "ihr warmen . . . ihr stummen," the second of these a two syllable rhyme with "Summen" in the preceding verse. Apostrophe: The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of a personified abstraction. The Adonic line is "composed in syllables, a dactyl followed by a trochee. Dactyl: A metrical foot consisting of one long syllable followed by two short ones. Trochee: A metrical foot consisting of one stressed syllable followed by one short or unstressed syllable. Binnenreim: Reim innerhalb der Verszeile.
[4] tanz den Geschmack der erfahrenen Frucht!: The first instance in this sonnet of a regular dactylic verse. The exclamation point will be seen to emphasize the emotional nature of the command and not the command itself, since in verses 5 and verse 9 "Tanzt die Orange." has no exclamation point, but is clearly a command. Also note the use of "erfahrenen" to modify "Frucht," which is a personification granting a human characteristic to the fruit. Dactyl: A metrical foot consisting of one long syllable followed by two short ones. Personification: As a manner of speech endowing nonhuman objects, abstractions, or creatures with life and human characteristics.
[5] Tanzt die Orange.: Note, of course, the missing exclamation point, but, more importantly, the repetition of the adonic line indicated by the period. The whole verse, however, scans as a perfect dactylic verse. The Adonic line is "composed in 5 syllables, a dactyl followed by a trochee.
[6] ertrinkend in sich: A somewhat rare present participial phrase, since none has appeared in the preceeding fourteen sonnets. It serves as an Epanorthosis for the preceeding "sie." Epanorthosis: The rephrasing of an immediately preceding word or statement for the purpose of intensification, emphasis or justification.
[7] sich: An epizeuxis which also makes a scanning of the line difficult if trying to establich a dactylic verse: "WIE sie, erTRINKend in SICH, sich wehrt." Epizeuxis: Repitition with no words intervening.
[8] wider ihr Süßsein.: Another Adonic Line or part of a line before the period, but then continuing as a regular dactylic verse. Also note the use of the more archaic "wider" instead of "gegen" to continue the alliteration with "wehrt" from the preceeding verse. The Adonic line is "composed in 5 syllables, a dactyl followed by a trochee. Alliteration: The repetition of the sound of an initial consonant or consonant cluster in stressed syllables close enough to each other for the ear to be affected.
[9] Ihr habt sie besessen: A continuation of the personification whereby the orange allowing itself to be eaten is given an element of seduction. Personification: As a manner of speech endowing nonhuman objects, abstractions, or creatures with life and human characteristics.
[10] köstlich zu euch bekehrt: The word "bekehren" is used more to mean that the fruit has been brought to love the person eating it than to be converted, which is the normal meaning. The word "köstlich" is a somewhat kitschy word from the "Umgangssprache" for a sonnet, but fits in with the dance or flamenco performance atmosphere. It also forms a distant alliteration to "bekehrt." This verse also presents problems with versification, since after "euch" there has to be a pause, or else the "kehrt" must be unaccented. Even then applying a dactylic meter is difficult: SIE hat sich KÖSTlich zu EUCH [ ] beKEHRT. Alliteration: The repetition of the sound of an initial consonant or consonant cluster in stressed syllables close enough to each other for the ear to be affected. Dactyl: A metrical foot consisting of one long syllable followed by two short ones.
[11] Tanzt die Orange. Die wärmere Landschaft: A parallelism to verse 5 which begins with the same adonic "Tanzt die Orange." and then continues with a regular dactylic meter. "Die wärmere Landschaft" can be seen as an "appositive" of location to "die Orange." The fact that it is treated as the beginning of a sentence and not separated with commas as with a normal appositive could be explained by the desire to begin the two respective verses with "Tanzt die Orange" with its adonic line. The direct object "sie" in verse 10 then refers to "die Orange," emphasizing its Southern warmer origins. Parallelism: The repetition of identical or similar syntactic patterns in adjacent phrases, clauses or sentences. The Adonic line is "composed in 5 syllables, a dactyl followed by a trochee. Dactyl: A metrical foot consisting of one long syllable followed by two short ones. Trochee: A metrical foot consisting of one stressed syllable followed by one short or unstressed syllable. Apposition An explanatory noun or phrase normally placed after the noun explicated.
[12] Werft sie: The "werft" is the command form of "ihr" and the "sie" refers back to "die Orange" as its (sic) antecedent.
[13] daß die reife erstrahle/in Lüften der Heimat!: The first question is why "reife" is not capitalized. There is a noun "die Reife" which means "maturity and puberty," but for this poem "ripeness." Not being capitalized means it refers to a previous noun, in this case, to a feminine singular or a plural noun. The closest is "Landschaft. But since "die wärmere Landschaft" is actually an appositive to "die Orange" It must refer to "Orange," because of the more appropriate designtion of "ripeness" to a fruit than to a "country." Also "sie" as a direct object referring to "die Orange" has been used twice previously. Once in verse 5 "Wer kann sie vergessen . . ." then in verse 7 "Ihr habe sie besessen." The word "erstrahle" is again the third person command in Konjunktiv I for "let it stream forth! The "Lüften der Heimat" must refer to a colder landscape which could reference northern Europe which is Rilke's homeland.
[14] Erglühte,/enthüllt Düfte um Düfte!: A grammatically complicated structure. "Erglühte" is an apostrophe referring to the Mädchen and set off by a comma. It is also an unpreceeded "substantivierung des Adjectivs," in this case of an adjective which is formed from the past participle of the verb "erglühen." It is then followed with an "ihr" form commant "enthüllt" ordering them to unpeel the orange thereby releasing its aroma. Note that had "ihr" preceeded "Erglühte" as in verse 3 with the adjectives "warm" and "stumm," then it would have become "Ihr Erglühten." The "ihr" form command is also clarified by the preceeding "werft" in verse 10 and "schafft" in verse 12. Also note the similarity between the "ihr" form command and the third person in the indicative present tense with the exception of stem-vowel changing verbs such as "werfen": "ich werfe, du wirfst--ihr werft" resulting in the "ihr-form" command "werft." It should be noted that "werfet" is also permitted as a more elevated or archaic form. Apostrophe: The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of apersonified abstraction.
[15] mit der reinen, sich weigernden Schale: The pairing of a normal adjective "reinen" with a present participle acting as an adjective "weigernden" in the dative singular feminine case. The usage of "sich weigernden" in reference to the skin of the orange is again a personification. Personification: As a manner of speech endowing nonhuman objects, abstractions, or creatures with life and human characteristics.
[16] mit dem Saft: A slight "parallesism" with the beginning of the previous line "mit der . . . Schale." Parallelism: The repetition of identical or similar syntactic patterns in adjacent phrases, clauses or sentences; the matching patterns are usually doubled, but more extensive iteration is not rare.
[17]die glückliche: Refers to "Die Orange."