Rhyme scheme is ABBA CDCD EFG EFG. The predominant meter is dactylic again with short verse lengths mostly an Adonic line plus one syllable with the exception of verse 8 coming at the end of the second quatrain and verse 14 coming after the second tercet, both with only 4 syllables.
Wir sind die Treibenden.[1]
We are the driving forces.
Aber den Schritt der Zeit,[2]
But the steps of time,
nehmt[3] ihn[4] als Kleinigkeit
those you should take as trivialities
im immer Bleibenden.
within that which always remains.
Alles das Eilende
Everything that hurries
wird schon vorüber sein;
will soon be past;
denn das Verweilende
for that which lingers
erst weiht uns ein.[5]
initiates us therein.
Knaben,[6] o werft den Mut
Young men, oh do not throw your enthusiasm
nicht in die Schnelligkeit,[7]
into velocity,
nicht in den Flugversuch.[8]
not into the attempt to fly.
Alles ist ausgeruht:
Everything is in repose:
Dunkel und Helligkeit,
darkness and luminosity,
Blume und Buch.[9]
blossum and book.
Wir sind die Treibenden.
We are those ordaining.
Aber den Schritt der Zeit,
But our time's brevity
nehmt ihn als Kleinigkeit
should be taken as petty
im immer Bleibenden.
within what's remaining.
Alles das Eilende
All that which now hurries
wird schon vorüber sein;
will never be retain'd;
denn das Verweilende
for by that which tarries
erst weiht uns ein.
are we sustain'd.
Knaben, o werft den Mut
Youth, your spirit be seen
nicht in die Schnelligkeit,
not in velocity,
nicht in den Flugversuch.
not in your flight's outlook.
Alles ist ausgeruht:
Everything is serene:
Dunkel und Helligkeit,
dark, luminosity,
Blume und Buch.
blossum and book.
[1] die Treibenden: Another example of an adjectivial noun substantiviertes Adjektiv, in this case formed with the verb "treiben" in the gerundial form which will rhyme in verse 4 with that same form of the verb "bleiben" in verse 4. The same gerundial adjectivial noun structure appears as a rhyming pair in verses 5 and 7 with the verbs "eilen" and "verweilen." With the exception of the last verse in the second quartet "erst weiht uns ein" and the last verse of sonnet "Blume und Buch," the metric scheme can be described as an adonic line plus one syllable, which can be either stressed or unstressed. To be noted is that in the first two quartets, the adjectivial nouns with unstressed endings rhyme with each other on all of their three last syllables, but the other rhymes "Zeit" with "Kleinigkeit" and "sein" with "ein" are all one-syllable rhymes on accented syllables. Substantivierung des Adjetives: Creation of a noun by capitalizing an adjective and placing it into the neuter gender and adding appropriate case endings. Adoneus or Adonic Line: The last line of a "Sapphic stanza." According to the German Wictionary, the Adoneus is: "ein aus der Antike stammender Versfuß aus fünf Glieders mit der Form -UU-U."
[2] den Schritt der Zeit: Anticipatory direct object of the "ihr-form" command "nehmt" in the next verse.
[3] nehmt: An "ihr-form" command, of which the "ihr" will only be explained in verse 9 as being "Knaben."
[4] ihn: Refers back to "den Schritt der Zeit" in verse 2.
[5] erst weiht uns ein: The word "erst" when used as an adverb contains within itself both the meaning of "first" but also implies "only." As noted above, this verse along with the last verse of the sonnet each contain four syllables with the metric pattern -UU-.
[6] Knaben: The revealing of the object of the command made in verse 3 with "nehmt." This time it is followed with a further command "werft."
[7] nicht in die Schnelligkeit: Forms a parallelism with the following verse "nicht in den Flugversuch." Notable also because its last word "Schnelligkeit" forms a three-syllable rhyme with "Helligkeit" in verse 13 which is a distant parallelism with the similar three-syllable rhymes of "Treibenden" and "Bleibenden" in verses 1 and 4 and of "Eilende" and "Verweilende" in verses 4 and 6. Parallelism: The repetition of identical or similar syntactic patterns in adjacent phrases, clauses or sentences.
[8] nicht in den Flugversuch: The syntactical identical parallelism with the preceding verse. Since the first flight was in 1903, Rilke does not mean the first attempt to fly, but rather the first time the "Knaben" attempt to use the more modern form of transportation to arrive more quickly at their destination. Parallelism: The repetition of identical or similar syntactic patterns in adjacent phrases, clauses or sentences.
[9] Blume und Buch.: Also a distant parallelism with verse 8 "erst weiht uns ein" which also has only 4 syllables and comes at the end of the quatreain which completes the introduction, while "Blume und Buch" sums up the concluding argument. Also note the only use of alliteration with "Blume und Buch" to emphasize the conclusion. The "und" after the preceding "Dunkel und Helligkeit" is also an example of polysyndeton. Parallelism: The repetition of identical or similar syntactic patterns in adjacent phrases, clauses or sentences. 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. Polysyndeton: The repetitions of conjunctions, normally "and."