Fraternity-Testvériség, 2002 (80. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2002-01-01 / 1. szám
FRATERNITY Page 11 all the blessings of your glorious country, can they drown into oblivion the longing of the heart and the fond desires for our native land? My beloved native land! thy very sufferings make thee but dearer to my heart; thy bleeding image dwells with me when I wake, as it rests with me in the short moments of my restless sleep. It has accompanied me over the waves. It will accompany me when I go back to fight over again the battle of thy freedom once more. I have no idea but thee; I have no feeling but thee.” His own words paint the portrait of the living identity of Kossuth Lajos: to Hungarians everywhere, he stands as the truest patriot of his country, an indefatigable voice against oppression, a lover and defender of a Hungary governed by Hungarians for all Hungarians. To people all over the world, he remains a human embodiment of the basic principles of freedom, liberty and justice for all. This portrait was obviously evident to the poet James Russel Lowell when he penned the words to his poem “Kossuth”: Kossuth Statue in Algona, Iowa, unveiled on July 13, 2001. A race of nobles may die out, A royal line may leave no heir; Wise nature sets no guard about Her pewter plate and wooden ware. Thou hast succeeded, thou hast won The deathly travails’ amplest worth, A nation’s duty thou hast done, Giving a hero to our earth. But they fail not, the kinglier breed, Who starry diadem attain. To dungeon axe and stake succeed Heirs of the old heroic strain. The zeal of nature never cools, Nor is she thwarted of her ends; When gapped and dulled her cheaper tools, She a saint and prophet spends. And he, let come what will of woe, Hath saved the land he strove to save; No Cossack hordes, no traitors’ blow Can quench the voice shall haunt his grave. “I Kossuth am! O Future, thou That clear’st the just and blott’st the vile, O’er this small dust in reverence bow, Remembering what I was erewhile. Land of the Magyars! though it be The tyrant may relink his chain, Aready thine the victory; As just future measures gain. “I was the chosen trump wherethrough Our God sent forth awakening breath; Came chain? Came death? The strain he blew Sounds on, outliving chains and death!” Opening of an Exhibition on Lajos Kossuth The European Division of the Library of Congress has organized an exhibit of books and other materials on “Lajos Kossuth, Champion of Liberty” commemorating his 1851- 1852 visit to the United States. The opening will be on March 15,2002 at 3:00 p.m. in the European Reading Room. Remarks will be made by Ambassador Géza Jeszenszky, who will be introduced by Carolyn Brown, Assistant Librarian and Acting Director for Area Studies Collections. The exhibit may be viewed in the Reading Room during the next few months. The European Reading Room is on the 2nd floor of the Jefferson Building. Use the 1st Street entrance, and walk through the American Treasures Exhibit. If you plan to attend the opening, allow time to pass through the security screening as lines tend to be long. All are invited to the opening!
