Fraternity-Testvériség, 1947 (25. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1947-10-01 / 10. szám
4 TESTVÉRISÉG lyamodott veszendő vagyona megmentésére. Akkor Egyesületünk megsegítette. Ha nem is tudott a gyülekezet vállalt kötelezettségének ígérete szerint eleget tenni, de bizonyára minden tagjának ott élt a lelkiismeretében, hogy az a pénz abból jutott az ő vagyonuk megmentésére, mely az özvegyeké és árváké. Egyesületünk tagsága, kikhez a köszönő sorok szólnak s közöttünk különösen azok a tagjaink, kik a kölcsön kifizetése idején ezt köny- nyelmüségnek tekintették, bizonyára jóleső érzéssel veszik tudomásul, hogy a Kalamazooi Magyar Református Egyház népe, amilyen kevesen vannak, olyan nagy áldozatkészséggel, kitartóan hozták meg áldozatukat, hogy Istennek dicsőségére épített templomukat, végre magukénak mondhassák. * “A minden áldások Nagy Istene” legyen velünk, hogy Egyesületünkben a testvéri kezek, testvéri szívek egymásnak a megsegítésére, erősítésére cselekedjenek jót a jövendőben is. Király Imre LITERARY REVIEW Joseph Reményi, Three Twentieth Century Hungarian Poets. Reprint from The American Slavic and East European Review, 1947. — Andor M. Leffler, Kossuth comes to Cleveland. Reprint from The Ohio State Archeological and Historical Quarterly, 1947. Mr. Reményi's literary review presents the portraits of three outstanding representatives of Hungary’s twentieth century literature. While in the roster of twentieth century Hungarian literature we do not meet with names reaching up to the stellar greatness of the preceding century’s torch-bearing giants (Vörösmarty, Petőfi, Arany), the literary attainments of this period in Hungary’s literary life is by no means lacking in really distinguished performances. Masters of Hungarian prose and poetry have produced unquestionably great literary works, while their chief merit lies in the fact that they have eminently succeeded in bringing up the vanguard of the several branches of Hungarian literature to European and world level. The first portrait presented by Mr. Reményi is that of Margit Kaffka the outstanding woman poet and novelist of twentieth century Hungary. In her brief life-span Margit Kaffka won a place in Hungarian literature which is distictly her own. Prompted by deeply seated social-mindedness, she “raised a brave voice in a world of inertia, materialism and helpless idealism”. The second personality in Mr. Reményi’s triad is Árpád Tóth (1886—1928) whose sublime aristic creations will eternally endear his name in the hearts of the lonely souls of poetic predilections. Both as a poet and a masterful interpreter of modern French and English authors, Árpád Tóth is a creator of truly matchless works. In the world of pure poetry, his disease-ridden, fragile figure ranks among the truly elect of Hungary’s literary world. Tóth was an immaculate verbal artist, a master of the Hungarian language, and in his well-night un-earthly detachment celestial longings and earthly consciousness get revealed in a baffling simplicity and directness. The samples which Mr. Reményi inserts in his review of Watson Kirconnel’s translations, help to bring nearer to the reader Árpád Tóth’s superb art, and this again serves to re-emphasize the fervent wish for an all- around trained English speaking interpreter to bring the great wealth of Hungarian literature within the reach of the English speaking world. The third writer in Mr. Reményi’s group is the still living and still creative Gyula Illés (1902—). Illés is a prolific worker, and both in prose and poetry has produced a goodly amount of highly meritorious literary material. In the catatstrophic changes which he has seen, he faces squarely the colossal problems of the times and, rising above commonplace attainments, strives for a new social order. As Árpád Tóth, he also is a master of the Hungarian language, and one of those who revel and rejoice in the wealth, color and plasticity of their native language, and own Dezső Kosztolányi’s precept: “The fact that Hungarian is my native tongue, that I speak, think and write in this language, is the paramount event in my life”. It is a highly gratifying fact that in Mr. Reményi we have a fully qualified man in our midst who, in properly interpreting Hungarian literature to the English speaking world, justly claims recognition and esteem. Rev. Leffler's “Kossuth comes to Cleveland” is a welcome addition to the wealth of literature which has grown up around the immortal figure of Hungary’s greatest, Louis Kossuth. Mr. Leffler has done a large amount of research for which he deserves full credit. His essay is cramful of newly dug—up data, and he eminently succeeds in painting a vivid picture both of Kossuth's towering figure, and the colorful details of his visit at Cleveland. It is to be regretted that a tinge of triviality, here and there, decidedly lessens the value of his otherwise highly meritorious work. Human greatness, even such as the highly incomparable greatness of Kossuth, is no proof against the hastily and carelessly formed slurs so characteristic of the mediocre. Kossuth’s matchless personality, however, should be a solemn warning against all efforts at ill-advised censoring. Let us rest assured that in Kossuth’s grand personality such human greatness is revealed the like of which is not an every-day occurrence in the rather drab fabric of mankind’s destinies. If Cobden saw in Kossuth the greatest man who ever set foot on English soil, while Emerson called him “Freedom’s angel”, and Horace Greely told judiciously that “among orators, patriots, statesmen, exiles, he has living or dead, no superior”, it would indeed be a most regrettable shortcoming if in our own estimation the proper sense of proportions would be conspicuous only by its absence. Rev. Leffler’s valuable contribution may well serve as a spur for further research work in the field created by Kossuth’s American visit. In a large number of places which Kossuth visited, Hungarian settlements flourish today, and very valuable material could be unearthed with little exertion. The harvest is, undoubtedly, plentiful.
