Hungarian Heritage Review, 1987 (16. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1987-03-01 / 3. szám

t ^literature of ^Hungarg

the regiments from Marseilles as they marched to Paris to take part in what was to become the French Revolution. The song, spreading like a blazing forest fire, became the rallying cry of the Revolution and then the National Anthem of the Republic of France. It is, of course, the “Marseillaise.”

Of this great song, England’s Thomas Carlyle wrote:

“The sound of it will make the blood tingle in men’s veins; and whole armies and assemblages will sing it with eyes weeping and burning, with hearts defiant of Death, Despot and Devil. ”

.,. 1848 — Buda-Pest, Hungary

Fifty-six years after Rouget de Lisle wrote his immortal song — on March 15, 1848 — a group of young men met in the Cafe Pilvax in Buda-Pest. Their leader was the young poet Sándor Petőfi. After reading Kossuth’s famous “Twelve Points” to his companions, Petőfi read them something he had just written: his poem NEMZETI DAL (National Song). Just as had happened with the “Marseillaise,” Petőfi’s poem burst into flame. Crowds in the street heard the words, took them to heart — and this became the heart-throb of Hungary’s ill-fated fight for liberty from the Austrian Monarchy.

The Poet

But Petőfi himself was already known to his countrymen as a prolific and popular poet. Born in Kiskőrös, he developed a deep and abiding affection for his native soil and for the people of the entire

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.. .Marseilles, France — 1792

One night in April 1792, in a mood of great, wild excitement,

a French Captain of Engineers named Rouget de Lisle wrote a song. Within days this song was sung by

SÁNDOR PETŐFI - “The Soul of Hungary”

(1823-1849)

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HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW

MARCH 1987