Rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFG EFG. The predominant meter is back to dactylic. A spring poem with playful usage of allegory.
Frühling ist wiedergekommen. Die Erde[1]
Spring has arrived. The earth
ist wie ein Kind, das Gedichte weiß;[2]
is like a child who knows poems;
viele, o viele . . .[3] Für die Beschwerde
many of them, o many . . . For the burden
langen Lernens[4] bekommt sie[5] den Preis.
of long study it receives the prize.
Streng war ihr[6] Lehrer. Wir mochten das Weiße
Strict was their teacher. Wie liked the white
an dem Barte des alten Mannes.[7]
on the beard of the elderly man.
Nun, wie das Grüne, das Blaue heiße,[8]
Now as the green, which should be called blue,
dürfen wir fragen: sie kanns, sie kanns![9]
we are permitted to question: it can do it, it can do it!
Erde, die frei hat, du glückliche,[10] spiele
The earth, which has time off, you lucky one, play
nun mit den Kindern. Wir wollen dich fangen,
now with the children. We want to catch you,
fröhliche Erde.[11] Dem Frohsten gelingts.[12]
you joyful earth. The happiest succeeds.
O, was der Lehrer sie lehrte, das Viele,[13]
Oh, what the teacher taught to them, the bountiful,
und was gedruckt steht in Wurzeln und langen
and what is imprinted in roots and long
schwierigen Stämmen: [14] sie singts, sie singts![15]
heavy trunks [family trees]: it sings it, it sings it.
Frühling ist wiedergekommen. Die Erde
Spring is yet again upon us. And the earth
ist wie ein Kind, das Gedichte weiß;
is as a child who knows books of poetry;
viele, o viele . . . Für die Beschwerde
sev'ral, oh sev'ral . . . for this dearth
langen Lernens bekommt sie den Preis.
filled with long study comes victory.
Streng war ihr Lehrer. Wir mochten das Weiße
Strict was its teacher. We liked the white
an dem Barte des alten Mannes.
on the hoary beard of the old man.
Nun, wie das Grüne, das Blaue heiße,
Now, like the green, longing to be blue light,
dürfen wir fragen: sie kanns, sie kanns!
we may question: it can, it can!
Erde, die frei hat, du glückliche, spiele
Earth, oh you free one, you happy one, play
nun mit den Kindern. Wir wollen dich fangen,
now with the children. We desire to catch you,
fröhliche Erde. Dem Frohsten gelingts.
you joyful earth. The most joyous succeding.
O, was der Lehrer sie lehrte, das Viele,
Oh, what the teacher taught, the whole verité,
und was gedruckt steht in Wurzeln und langen
and that imprinted in roots and through
schwierigen Stämmen: sie singts, sie singts!
long troubled trunks: does't sing, does't sing!
[1] Frühling ist wiedergekommen. Die Erde: We are back in this verse to a regular dactylic meter.
[2] wie ein Kind, das Gedichte weiß: A lighter and more playful simile than in the rest of the sonnets. In this sonnet Rilke makes extensive use of personification which in English is often called the pathetic fallacy. Simile: A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as. Personification: As a manner of speech endowing nonhuman objects, abstractions, or creatures with life and human characteristics.
[3] viele, o viele . . .: The ellipsis accentuates the already doubly stated plentifulness of the poem creating almost a hyperbole. Also the repetition of the word "viele" is a diacope, a figure of speech which appears three times in this sonnet: here, in verse 8 and in verse 14 which creates a Parallelism, not only in the form but also the placement of the last two being at the end of their respective quartett or tercet. Also an Adonic verse. Ellipsis A mark or series of marks: ( . . . ) for example, used in writing or printing to indicate an omission, especially of letters or words. Hyperbole: A bold exaggeration. Parallelism: The repetition of identical or similar syntactic patterns in adjacent phrases, clauses or sentences. In the Poets Collective website it is called the "Adonic line" and is "composed in 5 syllables, a dactyl followed by a trochee.
[4] langen Lernens: The word "langen" is an unpreceded adjective in the Genetive which takes the weak "en" ending.
[5] sie: Refers back to "die Erde." Even though the plural "Gedichte" comes after "die Erde," it is clear from the context and from the fact that "bekommt" indicates a singular subject.
[6] ihr: Again refers back to "die Erde."
[7] Wir mochten das Weiße/an dem Bart des alten Manns: A somewhat rare allegorical image incorporating the color of snow and the fact that the winter has grown old, similar to the very common usage of an old man to represent the end of the year. Allegory: A representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.
[8] wie das Grüne, das Blaue heiße: An extended simile which compares the green which would like to become blue to our being able to pose a rhetorical question as to whether or not Spring has learned the lessons taught by the personified Winter. The color green is very close to blue in some shades such as aqua, so much so, that many languages including Japanese have only one word for both colors. One explanation could be that Spring brings the blue sky's white light which causes photosynthesis such that plants develop chlorophyll and turn green. Simile: A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as. Personification: As a manner of speech endowing nonhuman objects, abstractions, or creatures with life and human characteristics.
[9] dürfen wir fragen: sie kanns, sie kanns: Another diacope, although "kanns" is really a Synaloepha of "kann" and "es." A parallel diacope ends this sonnet creating a perfect Parallelism, both coming after a colon and ending with an exclamation point. One futher parallel is that the words before each of them "fragen" and Stämmen" rhyme. Diacope: Repetition with only a word or two between; "Villian, damned smiling villain."
[10] du glückliche: An appositive coming after a relative clause referring back to "die Erde." It also continues the extended personification of the earth and the seasons. Personification: As a manner of speech endowing nonhuman objects, abstractions, or creatures with life and human characteristics.
[11] fröhliche Erde: An apostrophe directly addressing the earth. Apostrophe: The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of a personified abstraction, especially as a digression in the course of a speech.
[12] Dem Frohsten gelingts: Note the Polyptoton with "fröhlich" in the preceding sentence. Also another synaloeph without an apostrophe with "gelingts." Polyptoton: The repetition of the same word or root in different grammatical functions or forms. Synaloepha: Omission of a vowel to contract two words into one such as "don't," "it's."
[13] das Viele: Another apposition referring back to "was der Lehrer sie lehrte."
[14] und was gedrückt steht in Wurzeln und langen/schwierigen Stämmen: Continuing the extended metaphore of the earth reading poetry, the earth is now able to read what is written in the roots and trunks of the trees. Note the alliteration of "schwierigen Stämmen." Metaphor: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison. 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.
[15] sie singts, sie singts!: The last of the parallelism phrases using diacope, the last two ending with an exclamation point at the end of a section, the first after the second quatrain, the second after the last tercett. Also another synaloepha without an apostrophe. Parallelism: The repetition of identical or similar syntactic patterns in adjacent phrases, clauses or sentences. Diacope: Repetition with only a word or two between; "Villian, damned smiling villain." Synaloepha: Omission of a vowel to contract two words into one such as "don't," "it's." Quatrain: A stanza of 4 lines, normally rhymed. Tercet: A verse of 3 lines.