Each year on April 11th, Hungarians come together to celebrate the Day of Hungarian Poetry. The event – which has been held on famous Hungarian poet Attila József’s birthday since 1964 – brings people of all ages together to admire the inspiring achievements of the country’s greatest literary geniuses. This year, as the celebration of poetry coincides with the celebration of Easter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we decided to collect Christian poems from Hungarian poets written about the celebration of Easter and the Savior.
János Pilinszky (1921–1981) was one of the greatest Hungarian poets of the 20th century. He served with the Hungarian army in the Second World War. Pilinszky’s style includes a juxtaposition of Roman Catholic faith and intellectual disenchantment. His poetry often focuses on the underlying sensations of life and death; his time as a prisoner of war during the Second World War, and later his life under communist dictatorship, furthered his isolation and estrangement. Although it was not published for 10 years after its completion because the ruling communist party thought it to be pessimistic, his poetry volume, titled Harmadnapon (On the Third Day, 1959) established him as a courageous witness to the horrors of mid-twentieth century Europe. The book contains his most well-known poem, Apokrif (Apocrypha). Two selections of his poems were translated into English (Selected Poem in 1976 – later published as The Desert of Love in 1989, and Crater in 1978).
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János Pilinszky: On The Third Day And the ashen grey skies start blustering, Because perfidious mercenaries may have killed him, |
Pilinszky János: Harmadnapon És fölzúgnak a hamuszín egek, Mert megölhették hitvány zsoldosok, |
Mihály Babits (1883-1941) was a Hungarian poet, writer, and translator. Babits traveled a lot to Italy and his experiences during his travels led him to translate Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (Hell in 1913, Purgatory in 1920, and Paradise in 1923) into Hungarian. From 1911 on, Babits became one of the editors of Hungary’s most famous literary magazines, the Nyugat (West). Eventually, in 1929, he was appointed as editor-in-chief of the paper (sharing the role until 1933 with novelist Zsigmond Móricz), which he held until his death. His poems are well known for their intense religious themes, and he was a dedicated pacifist all his life as well (although he did protest against the label, saying he preferred to be called a humanist, as he “was born a fighter”). When reciting his poem Húsvét előtt (Before Easter) – which includes both religious elements and the idea of peace – at a Nyugat event, the crowd picked up on the refrain: “it’s enough! it’s enough! enough now!/come peace! come peace!”
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Mihály Babits: Before Easter If my lips shred to pieces – oh, courage! if my lips shred to pieces – more courage! God, we have now heroes to glorify! the teeming, pregnant winds of March, mighty rush, where mighty thrones and nations grind to dust, I will not praise the mighty machine but if my lips shred to pieces, oh courage! the one, the first, who comes to pronounce the word, peace, oh peace again! Oh peace! come peace! |
Babits Mihály: Húsvét előtt S ha kiszakad ajkam, akkor is, ha szétszakad ajkam, akkor is, Van most dícsérni hősöket, Istenem! mert rejtek élet száz szele, március mely trónokat őröl, nemzeteket, és mégsem a gépet énekelem de ha szétszakad ajkam, akkor is, ki először mondja ki azt a szót, hogy béke! béke! Ó, béke! béke! |
Hungarian poet and translator Jenő Dsida (1907-1938) was born in Transylvania, where his childhood was overshadowed by World War I, when his father was captured by the Russians, and later by the Romanian occupation. He was discovered by Hungarian journalist and the nation’s “great story-teller,” Elek Benedek, who helped him throughout his career. Most of his poems were written with a cheerful tone, brilliant rhymes, and rhythmic games, with a sense of melancholy towards life. Dsida’s recurring themes are patriotism, deep Catholic religiosity, love, and the fear of death. He wrote of himself: “I believe in faith, courage, the beauty of life that remains in all circumstances. I believe in the almighty smile.” The poet died at the young age of 31 because of his ongoing heart disease.
| Jenő Dsida: Maundy Thursday
No connection. The train would be six hours |
Dsida Jenő: Nagycsütörtök
Nem volt csatlakozás. Hat óra késést |
featured photo: Zoltán Balogh/MTI