Fraternity-Testvériség, 1955 (33. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1955-10-01 / 10. szám

TESTVÜKISÉG

15

Hungarian vocabulary gained immensely in force and effect. It is one of the ironies of history that Hungary was occupied and pillaged by the Turks whose language is considered related to that of the Magyars. There is a view that “in their cultural, moral and political growth the Hungarians display Turkish characteristics.” 19 The question is unresolved, although there are scholars who accept this theory. As to linguistic affinity, most of the scholars agree that Hungarian is a Finno-Ugrian language. Aside from Classical and Renaissance poets, aside from German poets whose works Balassa read in Jacob Regnart’s German songbook, and Polish, Ru- thenian and Romanian songs, Balassa’s poems echo the music of Turkish songs.

It is reasonable to presuppose that as a poet Balassa would have risen to any occasion. Under any circumstances the perplexities of life would have challenged him to poetic expression. We do not know whether he achieved what he set out to write, but we know that he learned first hand about the topics he wrote about. His poetic strength seldom falters; he made a poetic reality of the predicament of his life and of his nation. The meaning of his experiences haunted his imagination and despite occasionally labored diction, his poetry has the freshness and directness of spontaneity. His poems shed light on his era; they show that from the time he was born until his death Hungary was a land of battles; they also show what a poet is able to accomplish when he finds words for his joys and sorrows.

Compared with the poets of western Europe, Balassa is not to be dismissed as the exotic voice of a warrior nation. Critics and readers who evaluate literature not by geographical norms, but by aesthetic standards, should find qualities in his works which invite contemplation and produce pleasure. A detailed formal discussion of his poetry or exclusive concentration on its text are, of course, outside the boundaries of this type of essay which, dealing with a poet unknown in the English speaking world, is based on descriptive and not technical criticism. Suffice it is to say that whatever differences in poetic astuteness one would notice on the basis of such critical approach between Balassa’s poems and western European poems of the Renaissance or Baroque period would not detract from the Hungarian poet’s significance. They would show structural and textual influences of foreign poets, but they would also point to the singular traits of Balassa, to his individual economy of words, to the specific charm of his lyrical manner, in other words, to his congenital attributes. There should be no ques19 Ármin Vámbéry, A MAGYARSÁG BÖLCSŐJÉNÉL (Budapest, 1914), p. 6.

tion about his status as a poet whose essential qualities reveal an original creative spirit.

MIKLÓS ZRÍNYI

(1620—1664)

I.

Specimen Hungáriáé Litteratae by Dávid Czwittinger, published in 1711, contains biographical material about 300 Hungarian, Croatian and Dalmatian authors. Nothing of such length has been written about this subject previously. It is not the work of a competent literary historian, but it is of documentary value. Czwittinger does not take stand on any particular issue; he simply gives matter of fact inMiklós Zrínyi

formation about writers and versifiers who, according to his knowledge and critical intelligence, attained some prominence or at least deserve mention. Many of the catalogued authors have no literary standing whatsoever. Czwittinger did not include into his work Count Miklós Zrínyi, the seventeenth century Hungarian epic poet. Zrinyi, influenced by classical and baroque poets, such as Homer, Vergil, Ovid, Ariosto, Marino and Tasso (mostly by the latter), established the Hungarian epic style. To have overlooked him