Inna Vorobey A hermeneutic-linguistic approach to the poetry of R.M.

Rilke 1

Abstract

This article offers a hermeneutic-linguistic approach to poetic text that combines achievements of linguistics, hermeneutics, cognitive linguistics and poetics. The poetic word and the poetic concept are investigated through the poetic concept God in the poetry of the Austrian poet of 20th century R.M. Rilke. The study is based on distinguishing between sense, meaning and concept. The study technique includes: concordance, predicates analysis and categorization, hermeneutical circle, interpretation.

Keywords Book of Hours, concept, concordance, crystallization, dispersion, hermeneutics, interpretation, meaning, mega-sense, poetic word, Rilke, sense

Hermeneutic-linguistic approach My approach to poetic texts combines hermeneutics and linguistics. Its main points are: 1. The understanding of something means applying hermeneutics to it. Analysing and understanding of poetic texts needs hermeneutical approach. 2. Poetry creates a special poetic world expressed by words of natural language. 3. Word has meaning common for all speakers. In poetry it can get additional, unusual senses. Meaning belongs to language. Sense belongs to poetic world and combines forming concepts (mega-senses).
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This article is a part of my article written in Russian: .. / : []: . . .. . : , 2011. C.118-125. The translation is mine.

4. These senses and concepts are represented in poetic text by means of words. Thus, use of linguistic techniques is required for their analysis. The hermeneutical circle is required for their understanding and interpreting. 5. The key notions are poetic word, meaning, sense, concept.

Poetic word Word in poetry has following particular qualities: 1. Poetic word is figurative and image-bearing because of its semantic complexity. 2. Poetic word can have in context not only meaning fixed in dictionary but also new uncommon senses. These non-common senses are determined both by dictionary meanings and by relations with other words in a poem. It is very important to distinguish between its meaning and sense of poetic word. 2. Poetic word is a sounding word. 3. Poetic word reflects a poets system of beliefs. Poetic word creates a special poetic world different from the reality. 4. Outside poetic world it loses its special poetic sense. The question, whether a lexicological word or other language unit can be regarded as a poetic word, is unsolved nowadays.

Meaning, sense, concept Sense is the basic notion for poetic word. One word can be found in a text many times and have many different senses. On the contrary, one sense can be expressed by

different words. I suggest the following understanding of these notions: meaning is the common content that native speakers connect with a particular sound. Sense is an occasional, depending on context content. Concept (mega-sense) 2 is a word sense, but usual and global, because it can be expressed by different words. It is not connected with a particular word, and is determined by culture. This relation to culture is one of its main characteristics. It can be translated into other languages. Concept exists in mind and is expressed in language. It connects the collaborative and an individual mind, the society and an individual.

Features of sense in poetry Sense in poetry can be crystallized and dispersed. In my opinion crystallization is the process of shaping of mega-sense from many elementary primary senses through the entire text. Each new word in poetic text extends and confirms this mega-sense. The most used poetic word (keyword) can become the main point of crystallization or the name of the concept. The process opposite to crystallization is dispersion. Dispersion means it isnt possible to shape the primary senses and combine them into one mega-sense. They have nothing in common. There is no basis for comparison. Meaning is a static structure fixed by linguists, sense is a dynamic structure that emerges and develops in a text. Concept combines these static and dynamic features.

Concept and mega-sense are synonyms in this research.

Research technique The first step is the finding out key words by means of frequency word books. However, this step can be omitted if concepts are already known (as in the case under review). The second step is the establishing of concordance. Concordance is an alphabetical index of all the words in a text or corpus of texts, showing every contextual occurrence of a word (American Heritage Dictionary, 1985: 306). For my purpose concordance can help: a) to reveal frequency of words in poems; b) to show the nearest context of a poetic word; c) to find out concepts. The third step is detection of contextual senses of a poetic word. For this purpose I use the words distribution method. Predicates and attributes of the word under study are extracted from the text. Than they are generalized or brought together to one or several predicate word-families on sense basis. Than it is needed to find out other words have this sense too (contextual synonyms). The fourth step is summarizing of data by means of interpretation using the hermeneutical circle.

Analysis To illustrate this technique, I suggest the analysis of two poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, the Austrian poet of 20th century. R.M. Rilke deals with universal categories that inspired philosophers and artists: being, existence, human, god, relations between god and human, place and role of human in the reality, etc. One of the main concepts in Rilkes poetry is God. The main point of crystallization and the concepts name is the word god. The concordance of this lex-

eme is made at the second step of analysis: this lexeme is used in the cycle The Book of Hours 46 times, 30 of which are found in the first volume. Let me demonstrate a small part of concordance of the lexeme god:

Gott ich kreise um Gott, um den uralten Turm (1, Ich kreise um Gott)1 Du, Nachbar Gott, wenn ich dich (1, Du, Nachbar Gott) wir nicht wollen: Gott reift (1, Daraus, dass Einer) Wer kann dich halten, Gott (2, Du musst nicht bangen) Gottes der Frhling Gottes war dort (1, Der Ast vom Baume Gott) eines Gottes Gossudar, dem Reiche eines Gottes Recht erwiesen (3, Da sah ich auch Palste)

The poems are written as prayers, thats why the main contextual synonym of lexeme god is the pronoun du(you) used by the main character along with different metaphors, for example: du Dunkelheit, Du dunkelnder Grund, du Ding der Dinge, du, Nachbar Gott, du hohes Mittelschiff, etc. Now I would like to illustrate the process of sense crystallization in the poem Wir bauen an dir mit zitternden Hnden.

Wir bauen an dir mit zitternden Hnden und wir trmen Atom auf Atom. Aber wer kann dich vollenden, du Dom.

We build on you with our trembling hands, Towering atom on atom. But who can complete your plan, You our cathedral?

Was ist Rom? Es zerfllt. Was ist die Welt? Sie wird zerschlagen eh deine Trme Kuppeln tragen, eh aus Meilen von Mosaik

What is Rom? All but scattered. What is the world? It will be shattered before there are cupolas on your towers, before the miles of mosaik floors

deine strahlende Stirne stieg.

give rise to your haloed head.

Aber manchmal im Traum

But at times in a dream

kann ich deinen Raum berschaun, tief vom Beginne bis zu des Daches goldenem Grate.

I have overseen your gilded space, from its deep foundations up to the highest golden groin.

Und ich seh: meine Sinne bilden und baun die letzten Zierate. (Rilke et al., 2011: 8, 9)

And I see: my senses paint and create the last decorations. (Rilke et al., 2011: 10, 12)

The first thing attracts my attention is the direct address to God: du Dom (you Dom). Dom is one of the most important senses of mega-sense God. In this poem Dom is the main point of crystallization. Which language expressions in the poem are connected with this word? They are predicates and attributes: bauen, bilden trmen, vollenden, Trme, Kuppeln, Meilen von Mosaik, des Daches goldenem Grate, Zierate. Therefore, Dom is a metaphor for God. It is a building associated with God. This metaphor can be expected by readers. However, in the poem this metaphor receives unexpected additional senses. People take part in building of this cathedral Wir bauen an dir, wir trmen Atom auf Atom, it means that God is peoples creation. This idea sounds blasphemous. Another line of the poem explains this idea. God is beautiful (Trme, Kuppeln, Meilen von Mosaik, des Daches goldenem Grate, Zierate), but incomplete (wer kann dich vollenden). Why is God incomplete? Readers can find the answer in (meine Sinne /bilden und baun /die letzten 6

Zierate). This line gives us the answer to all the questions: people including the main character create God by means of their thoughts and desires (Sinne). Creating of God will be continued as long as people think about God. However, not all people take part in creating God. People who take part in it are represented in the poem and in the whole cycle as we. Thus, the sense becoming a cathedral is expressed in this poem. Each next word in the poem amplifies and confirms this sense. I call this process of sense shaping crystallization. The point of crystallization is the address to God Dom.

Let me illustrate the process of sense dispersion in the poem In tiefen Nchten grab ich dich, du Schatz.
In tiefen Nchten grab ich dich, du Schatz. Denn alle berflsse, die ich sah, sind Armut und armsliger Ersatz fr deine Schnheit, die noch nie geschah. In the deep nights I dig for you, O Treasure! To seek you over the wide world I roam, For all abundance is but meager measure Of your bright beauty which is yet to come.

Aber der Weg zu dir ist furchtbar weit und, weil ihn lange keiner ging, verweht. O du bist einsam. Du bist Einsamkeit, du Herz, das zu entfernten Talen geht.

Over the road to you the leaves are blowing, Few follow it, the way is long and steep. You dwell in solitudeOh, does your glowing Heart in some far off valley lie asleep?

Und meine Hnde, welche blutig sind vom Graben, heb ich offen in den Wind, so dass sie sich verzweigen wie ein Baum. Ich sauge dich mit ihnen aus dem Raum

My bloody hands, with digging bruised, I've lifted, Spread like a tree I stretch them in the air To find you before day to night has drifted; I reach out into space to seek you there ...

als httest du dich einmal dort zerschellt

Then, as though with a swift impatient gesture,

in einer ungeduldigen Gebrde, und fielest jetzt, eine zerstubte Welt, aus fernen Sternen wieder auf die Erde sanft wie ein Frhlingsregen fllt. (Rilke, 1981)

Flashing from distant stars on sweeping wing, You come, and over earth a magic vesture Steals gently as the rain falls in the spring.

(Rilke, 2012)

As in the first poem, addresses to God attract my attention: du Schatz, eine zerstubte Welt, du Herz. There is nothing in them that unites them. The only common basis for them is their reference to God. They are the points of crystallization. The first point of crystallization God as a treasure has predicates: du Schatz, in tiefen Nchten grab ich dich, fr deine Schnheit, die noch nie geschah. The second point dispersed God attracts als httest du dich einmal dort zerschellt, eine zerstubte Welt, sanft wie ein Frhlingsregen. The third point God as a heart: du Herz, das zu entfernten Talen geht. The fourth point God is lonely o du bist einsam, du bist Einsamkeit, der Weg zu dir ist furchtbar weit undverweht. The poem begins with address to God du Schatz. The common understanding of treasure is something very valuable, beautiful, and hidden. The main character wants to find out this treasure deep in the ground (In tiefen Nchten grab ich dich). This line can have another sense that arises from the concept Night in Rilkes poetry. One of the senses in the structure of concept Night is the time of insights and epiphany. Thus, the main character regards nights as an opportunity to find out God. The metaphor grab points to the sense finding out God as very complicated and requires effort as much as burying treasure. The second and the third lines describe Gods beauty. The words noch nie geschah lead to the sense God as Dom to its sense becoming a cathedral.

The second strophe contains the sense God is lonely, God is solitude (Einsamkeit), because not all people want to come to God. The way to him is difficult, it takes a lot of energy. No one has been interested in God and weil ihn lange keiner ging, verweht people lost him. The next line explains us how people can comprehend God. This comprehension is irrational, unreasonable. The metaphor du Herz represents this sense. Heart is a symbol of feelings. People must feel God in order to understand, to cognize him. This understanding of God is very difficult and reminds of a hidden treasure Und meine Hnde, welche blutig sind vom Graben. The main character calls this process digging out. The metaphor Hnde blutig confirms that it takes a lot of energy to find God. Blood is a symbol of vital powers. The third strophe has a different sense. God is dispersed in space als httest du dich einmal dort zerschellt, eine zerstubte Welt. God is associated with rain. Spring rain is a religious symbol of Gods grace connected with life-giving and fertilizing power of rain. If God sees humans efforts to find him out, he makes it possible: als httest du dich einmal dort zerschellt . Furthermore, God is waiting for these efforts in einer ungeduldigen Gebrde. The main character can join to God: Ich sauge dich. God is in heaven, over the earth, and falls on earth. The main character feels as if he were a tree that gets its powers from earth and rain so dass sie sich verzweigen wie ein Baum. The main character begins looking for God on earth (between people and things). This process is very difficult and takes away vital powers. However, this path can be wrong, because God is not hidden as a treasure, he is open to all people as rain. People want to have God only for themselves. They choose the longest way to him, nobody can

reach God. That is why God is lonely. The easiest way to God is through heart and feelings. God is open to everyone, and it is necessary for him to be discovered. Concept dispersion has following directions: 1. 2. 3. God is a hidden treasure (reasonable understanding). God is a heart (perceptional understanding). God is lonely (many people take the rational way to god).

These three senses originate from mystic ideas of Meister Eckhart and Angelus Silesius. There are also Orthodoxy ideas in this concepts structure: 1. 2. God is open (Gods glace). God is dispersed in space.

All these senses shape mega-sense God. The sense of concept is not crystallized in the poem, but dispersed. However, both processes are connected with each other: we observe crystallization inside predicate groups, but mega-sense is dispersed, divided. Concept God in Rilkes Book of Hours is a cultural dynamic structure consisting of two main parts: the common one and an individual one. The first reflects the common religious understanding of God as the supreme being. The second consists of individual metaphors that realize poets understanding of some religious and philosophical traditions. The processes of crystallization and dispersion reflect the dynamic traits of concept. The common part carrying cultural archetypes provides concept with static nature.

Notes

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1.

The number shows the volume of The Book of Hours (1 - The Book of the

Monkish Life, 2 - The Book of Pilgrimage, 3 The Book of Poverty and Death). The second index position is the poems name.

References 1. 2. American Heritage Dictionary (1985). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Jakobson R (1960) Closing Statement: Linguistics and Poetics. In: Style in Lan-

guage. Edited by T.A. Sebeok. New York: Wiley, 1960: 350-377. 3. 4. Rilke R (1981) Gedichte. Moskau: Verlag Progress. Rilke R (2012) Poems. Available at: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38594/38594-

h/38594-h.htm (Accessed 16 July 2012). 5. Rilke R, Vilian R, Ranson S and Sutherland M (2011) Selected poems. New York:

Oxford University Press.

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