Untergang (5. Fassung)
Über den weissen Weiher
Sind die wilden Vögel fortgezogen.
Am Abend weht von unseren Sternen ein eisiger Wind.
Über unsere Gräber
Beugt sich die zerbrochene Stirne der Nacht.
Unter Eichen schaukeln wir auf einem silbernen Kahn.
Immer klingen die weissen Mauern der Stadt.
Unter Dornenbogen
O mein Bruder klimmen wir blinde Zeiger gen Mitternacht.
Glossary
|
WORD
|
DEFINITION
|
POSSIBLE SYNONYMS
|
|---|---|---|
| Abend (n.) | late part of the day | evening, nightfall, sundown, twilight |
| am (prep.) | indicates place or state | in, inside |
| auf (prep.) | touching the top surface or inside of something | on, in, upon |
| beugt sich (v.) | to become or make curved | bends, flexes, leans down, twists |
| Bruder (n.) | man or boy sibling | brother, male sibling |
| den, der, die (art.) | indicates one as distinct from another (Note: In German, articles agree with the verb.) | the |
| Dornenbogen (n.) | a plant shaped like a bow that has thorns | thorn bow, arc of thorn, arches of thorn |
| Eichen (n.) | tree or hard wood from tree | oak, oaken |
| ein, einem (indef. art.) | used before a singular noun | a, an |
| eisiger (adj.) | extremely cold | icy, frozen, cold, freezing, frosty |
| Fassung (n.) | account of something | version, story, side, account |
| fortgezogen (v.) | to move from place to place | migrate, wander, travel, journey |
| gen (prep.) | in the direction of | toward, against, into |
| Gräber (n.) | burial place | grave, tomb |
| immer (adv.) | at all times | always, every time, forever, for all time, forever and a day |
| Kahn (n.) | open boat sometimes used for a ceremony | barge, flat-bottomed boat |
| klimmen (v.) | to ascend using hands and feet | climb, scale, scramble, clamber |
| klingen (v.) | to be filled with reverberating sound | resound, sound, ring, reverberate |
| Mauern (n.) | flat side of a building or room | walls, ramparts |
| mein (adj.) | relating or belonging to me | my |
| Mitternacht (n.) | the middle of the night | midnight, middle of the night, dead of night, witching hour |
| Nacht (n.) | time of darkness between each day | night, nighttime, darkness, blackness |
| o (interjection) | used to address someone directly | o, oh |
| schaukeln (v.) | to lead over repeatedly | sway, seesaw, swing, rock |
| silbernen (adj.) | metallic color | silver |
| sind (v.) | third person plural of the verb to be | are, exist, are present |
| Stadt (n.) | very large urban area | city, metropolis |
| Sternen (n.) | mass of gas in space, points of light in the night sky | stars, celestial body |
| Stirne (n.) | front of the head | forehead, brow, temple |
| über (prep.) | a position directly above something | over, above |
| unsere, unseren (adj.) | belonging to us, to everyone | our |
| unter (prep.) | below or beneath something | under, beneath, below |
| Untergang (n.) | end of something | demise, decline, downfall, end |
| Vögel (n.) | two-legged winged animals | birds |
| von (prep.) | connected with something | from, of |
| weht (v.) | move with an air current | blow, gust, waft, bluster, propel |
| Weiher (n.) | small body of water | small lake, pond, pool |
| weissen (adj.) | without color, comparatively light | white, niveous (snow white) |
| wilden (adj.) | not tame, cultivated, or domesticated | wild, untamed, feral |
| Wind (n.) | movement of air | wind, breeze, gale, gust |
| wir (pron.) | refers to speaker and others | we |
| Zeiger (n.) | helpful hint | pointer, indicator, hint, gauge |
| zerbrochene (adj.) | no longer whole | broken, fractured, smashed, busted |
Background
About Tercets
A tercet is a three-lined verse, or a group, or unit of three lines. These three lines are often rhymed together, or they rhyme with another triplet. It has a flow of words as rolling waves.
Types of Tercet
- Haiku
Haiku is a Japanese type of tercet. It is a three-line poem based usually on nature, and follows five-seven-five syllable counts. It means the first line contains five, the second seven, and the third line five syllables.
- Triplet
A triplet has three rhymed lines in each stanza. Its rhyme scheme is AAA.
- Enclosed or Sicilian Tercet
An enclosed or Sicilian tercet uses a rhyme scheme of ABA. In simple words, the first and third lines rhyme together and enclose a rhyming middle line. This tercet adds the challenge of using iambic pentameter. It means each line uses ten syllables with emphasis on each second syllable.
- Villanelle
Another type of triplet which uses five tercets and one quatrain. It follows the rhyme scheme as: A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 A2.
- Terza Rima
Terza rima is one of the most challenging types of tercet. It usually follows iambic pentameter with rhyme scheme of ABA BCB CDC. This is a complicated rhyme scheme that binds stanzas together in which the second line in each stanza rhyme with the next tercet.
Bio
Born in 1887 in Salzburg, Georg Trakl is considered one of the most important Austrian expressionists. He was the fourth of six children and was particularly close to his sister Grete, who, like him, was interested in the arts. When he could not pass the exams to enter high school, he got a tutor who introduced him to the French Symbolist poets. At the age of thirteen, Trakl began writing poetry. Although he was trained and worked as a pharmacist, he continued writing poetry, his true passion. During World War I, Trakl joined the army as a pharmacist and was directly responsible for the care of many severely injured soldiers. This gruesome work brought Trakl to a state of severe depression. He died from a drug overdose while living in an army hospital in modern-day Poland.