Verhovayak Lapja, 1941. július-december (24. évfolyam, 27-52. szám)
1941-07-10 / 28. szám
Page 2 HUNGARIAN PERSONAGES by Joseph Szentkirályi MICHAEL CSOKONAI VITÉZ - 1773-1805 With the exceptions of Francis Kazinczy and Alexander Kisfaludy, Michael Csokonai-Vitéz was the most popular and most gifted writer on the Hungarian literary scene in the beginning of the 19th Century. In spite of his genius he was not given recognition, spiritual or material, while he could enjoy it. Most of poems remained in manuscript form until his death. He could not marry the girl he loved and' died in poverty at the early age of thirtyone. Michael Csokonai-Vitéz, son of a barber-surgeon, was born in Debrecen in 1773. He received a fairly good education in spite of the fact that his father died when Michael was but thirteen. His mother sent him to the famous College of Debrecen, but showing less than an average enthusiasm toward scholastic discipline, he had to leave the institution before receiving a degree in theology. For a short time he studied law at Sárospatak but dropped that too. It was not the strain of learning that made him forsake organized study. We have ample proof to the contrary. He studied far beyond the requirements set by his professors and read Latin, Greek, Italian, German and French authors in the original, and even became deeply interested in natural history, a science not very popular at that time. What made him leave school, comparative security and the mediocrity of urban comfort was most probably "the wanderlust,” an urge to see strange places and foreign people. Michael published a literary weekly at Pozsony, wrote occasional poetry at Komárom, and taught at Csurgó. At Komárom he fell in love with the girl who recited one of his poems at a patriotic gathering. It was love at first sight and love to the grave, at least on the part of the twenty-four year old-Michael. The father of Julia (that was the name of • the girl) did not want a poor poet for his son-inlaw, and soon the girl herself grew cold toward him. But Michael could not forget Julia, whom he called Lilia, and this love went with him to the grave. No matter how we feel about this unfortunate love affair we can not but be thankful because it made Csokonai-Vitéz the great lyric poet that he was. This love was the not only of inspiration for our poet but also ripened his poetic talents. But the wanderer had to go on and on again. In 1804 he was invited to say the farewell poem, then in custom, at the funeral of a noblewoman. The poem, called The Immortality of the Soul, proved to be the greatest Hungarian philosophical poem ever written. But misfortune did not leave him. He caught cold at the funeral and was finally forced to go hoipe to Debrecen. As the outcome of this sickness, he died seven months later at the age of thirty-one. Not mentioning his numerous dramas and epic poems, of which a comic epic entitled Dorothy, stimulated by Pope’s Rape of the Lock, was the first of its kind in Hungarian literature, our poet left behind him a number of lyric poem* worth mentioning. Three are especially beautiful, and at least two of these, To Hope and To the Echo of Tihany, were inspired by Julia. Here we must content ourselves with two excerpts, one from To Hope and the other from To Solitude. Their poetic beauty and passion offer ample proof even in translation of the genius of Michael Csokonai-Vitéz: To mortal eyes thou, Hope dost gleam A form divinely sweet; , But eyes of gods can pierce the dream And see thy blind deceit. Unhappy men in times of ill Create thee for their easing; STAMP NOTES By William B. Yuhase Verhovayak Lapja___________ Uncle Sam’s Post Office Department is awakening from its lethargy and will start an avalanche of air mails. The first denomination is the 6 cent stamp, in a subdued shade of red, and will be a design common to the entire set. It will' picture a modern twin-motored transport plane of the air mail type. The plane will be shown in flight with its nose to the left. Below the plane will be a three line inscription reading “Air Mail—6 cents—United States of America,” the first two lines in color, and the last line reading in white on a colored ground. The entire series will be printed on the rotary press and issued in sheets of fifty, and will be of the same size as the eurrent special delivery stamps. The first of the set 6 cents made its appeárance at Washington, D. C. on the 25th of June. The 10 cent stamp in purple will be issued on August 15, 1941, at the annual meeting of the American Air Mail Society in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The 15 cent, in brown, will be issued August 19, 1941, at the annual convention of the American Philatelic Society in Baltimore, Maryland. The 20 cent stamp, in green, will be issued August 27, 1941, at the annual convention of the Society of Philatelic Americans in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 30 cent stamp, in blue, will be released at Kansas City, Missouri September 25, 1941, during the Trans-Mississippi Philatelic Society convention. The 50 cent stamp, in orange, will be issued on October 29, 1941 at St. Louis, Missouri, during the convention of the World Wide Philatelic Association. So thére you are,. boys and girls, save your money And as their guardian angel still They worship without ceasing. Why dost thou flatter me with praise? Why dost thou then deride me? Why in my bosom dost thou raise A dubious heart to chide me? Stay far and fair beyond my reach, As first my soul thou greeted! I had depended on thy speech, But thou hast ever cheated. Depart from, me, O cruel Hope! Depart and come no more; For blinded by your power I grope Along a bitter shore. My strength has fail’d, for I am riven By all thy doubt and dearth; My tired spirit longs for heaven, My body yearns for earth. I see the meadows overcome With dark consuming blight; The vocal grove to-day is dumb; The sun gives place to night. I can not tune this trill o’ mine! My thought are all at sea! Ah, heart! Ah, hope! Ah, Lilia mine! May God remember thee! Translation by Watson Kirkconnell In his poem To Solitude, a more sober but at the same time more resigned tone becomes apparent. Did he instinctively feel the nearing end? Who knows? Come, blessed Solitude, and waft me on Into your peaceful visions of delight! Pray, leave me not, -though others should be gone; But lull me gently in your bosom bright! The miser seeks to hold you, but with pain You punish his rude soul and beat it down; And the ambitious, with their humours vain, You drive into the uproar of the town. You flee away from the martial trumpet-calls; You flee away from bustling city-walls; Your home is rather in the tender heart, The quiet thorp, the meadow set apart. O blessed Solitude, my comrade be When all I pwn through all eternity Is but that solemn tenement, the tomb? Come when you will, blest Solitude, but come? Translation by Watson Kirkconnell July 10, 1941 for this issue, and also be warned that a new set of stamped envelopes will be issued this coming fall. The Philippine Philatelic Agency at the Commonwealth Legation in Washington, D. C. is in a quandery. The agency has on hand a selected allotment of the new series of air mails to be sold to collectors. However, these stamps can not be sold until the main shipment arrives in Manila about one month hence. In the meantime, collectors are asked by the Philippine Agency to hold their orders and remittances for these new air mail stamps until public announcement is made that they are on sale. In case any reader is interested, these stamps are usually attained from the Philippine Philatelic Agency, 2632 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, D. C., after sending the proper remittance.--------------O-------------BRANCH 428 Milwaukee, Wisconsin • - —.... A very enjoyable time was had by all who attended our “Get Acquainted” Party held on June 14th at Milwaukee Hall. Mrs. James Stark, Secretary of Branch 428, introduced the officers, who in turn responded with short speeches. The guest speaker of the evening was George Toth, District Organizer, South Bend, Indiana. A very delicious supper was served, and dancing was the principal amusement. The branch wishes to welcome the following new members: Helen Sekeres, Joseph Sekeres, Steve Bfigdan, Steve Marty Papp, Mrs. Martin George Papp, Charles Papp, Marty Papp, Mrs. Marty Papp, John Zauner, Steve Hauser, Paul Gerber, Mrs. A. Back. ■ Congratulations to you all! The members of Brcnch 428 wish to extend congratulations to George Weiler, President of the United Hungarian Societies, on his appointment to the City Civil Service Commission by the Honorable Mayor Carl Zeidler. Fraternally, LOUIS H. SOKOL, Publicity Agent. Did “Diamond Jim“ Have Stomach or Ulcer Pains? It is hardly likely that Diamond Jim Brady could have eaten so voraciously if he suffered after-eating pains. Sufferers who have to pay the penalty of stomach or ulcer gains, indigestion, gas pains, hearturn, burning sensation, bloat and other conditions caused by excess acid should try a 25c box of Üdga Tablets. They must help or money refunded, u
