Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1978. július-december (32. évfolyam, 27-50. szám)
1978-08-03 / 29. szám
Thursday, Aug. 3. 1978.- AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZO 9 WHERE TO GO - WHAT TO SEE in Hungary “T0 CREATE" Gyula Illyés, poet laureate of Hungary, was once asked, during an interview: “What is poetry good for, all things considered?” and Illyés answered: “I can give you an answer onlv by telling you what it is that the poems and literature as such gave me. Poems have taught me how to speak. It is through poetrv that unconscious feelings, intuitions concepts have touched me first. I would be unable to formulate exactly the plus-value I may have received from a specific poem, but I know that poetry taught me a whole scale of inexpressible, and perhaps as vet unexpressed feelings, just as my mother had taught me what is a cup, a table, a pair of plvers, a knife. People who have been raised in the same literarv environment can understand one another practically at a glance, they approach each other with ease. Hence poetry has a practical effect that is what 1 would tell a social scientist.” Here is an excerpt from one of Gyula Illyés’ celebrated poems, “To Create”. With these mortal eyes . to learn whal I am here to do, the job that waits for me to do it, for which, somewhere, a peasant, hoeing, sends me this glass of wine, a worker touching down his soldering-iron sent light into my room, to find with mortal eyes the eternal task: Make the future speak!- already it is quarreling with death, skillfully, intelligent, bustling, with authority. To do the job well, to our liking- yes, like good love-making. Almost stroking its face in gratitude. To leave it there, to look back a few times on the one who lies there satisfied; she keeps my riches, conceiving my future, the meaning, maybe forever, of all I was here for, Mortal, imperishable. /Translated by Daniel Hoffman, NewYorkl TO OUR READERS DID YOU LIKE this issue of “HERITAGE” ? Would you be interested in receiving future issues? Then please fill out this coupon,also we will gladly send free sample copies to your friend, and relatives. Your name and address........................................... Your friend’s name and address............................. (You may send,as many names as you wish) Subscription $ 2.- per year FEJÉR COUNTY Fejér county is best reached from Budapest by taking the M7 motorway, or the main road No. 70. Martonvásár is a twenty-minute ride from Budapest, half wav to Székesfehérvár. It is where the castle that once belonged to the Brunszvik family with its magnificent gardens stands, now the home of the Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In the memorial museum at the castle there is a Beethoven collection on display. Taking the main road No. 70 out of Martonvásár we soon reach Lake Velence, the second largest Stillwater lake in the country. It is 45 km from Budapest and surrounded by romantic scenery; its waters are ideal for swimming, rowing and sailing. The county town of Székesfehérvár, 69 km from Budapest, celebrated its millennium a couple of years ago, making it one of the oldest cities in Hungary. Its Latin name was Alba Regia, and King István or Stephen I.chose it as his capital almost a thousand years ago. It was where the coronation of the Hungarian monarchs took place in the Middle Ages, and for a long time remained the centre of national lile. In the Romkert /Ruin Gardens/ the remains of the 11th century royal basilica can be seen. The Turks occupied Székesfehérvár for 145 years, after which it was almost reduced to rubble. The city was reborn in the Age of Baroque in the 18th century. The centre of the town, Szabadság- ter/Freedom Square/ is full of historic buildings in Baroque style such as the former palace of the Zi- chys, the Franciscan monastery and number of priThe Ruin Gardens at Székesfehérvár vate houses. The frescos by the famous Austrian master F.A. Maulbertsch in the Baroque Carmelite Chapel, the King István Museum and the Ybl collection displayed in the Budenz house. The King István Museum is especially rich in finds from Roman times which have been dug up at Tác-Gorsium, not far from SzekesfehérvaV. From a market town, Székesfehérvár has become a significant industrial centre with radio, television, computer, machine-tool, and aluminum industries. Its population is more than 85.000 and its historic centre is now ringed by new housing developments. In the open-air museum in Tac on the site of the excavations remains of an old Christian basilica, Roman villas, roads and sewage systems, a magnificent fountain and remnants of grave stones are to be seen. Dunaújváros was the first new town to be built in socialist Hungarv. It has developed into a significant centre of heavy industry and paper production in the twenty years since its foundation on the site of a quiet village. With its broad streets, parks, modern estates and dramatic industrial buildings, perched on a hill by the Danube, it is a fine example of modern town planning. András Budai Martonvásár Castle, where Beethoven often stayed CORRECTION The following explanatory note was inadvertently omitted in our July 6th issue. It should have followed Anca Vrbovska’s hauntingly beautiful translation ofTompa’s “Autumn Branches”. Mihály Tompa /1821-1868/ was a famous Hungarian poet who earned his livelihood as a Calvinist minister in the small village of Hanva, County of Gbmör, Northern Hungary, now, Slovensko. The government of Czechoslovakia made a national shrine of the house where the poet lived.
