Bereczky Erzsébet (szerk.): Imre Madách: The Tragedy of Man. Essays about the ideas and the directing of the Drama (Budapest, 1985)

Imre Madách: The Tragedy of Man - full text of the drama - Translated by Joseph Grosz

LUCIFER

All living things endure the same long life.

The one-day beetle and the ancient tree Perceive, rejoice, then love and pass away When they’ve fulfilled their longings and their task. Time changes not, we are those things that change: One day and centuries are all the same;

So weary not, you’ll also reach your goal.

But don’t believe that in your mud-made breast Every design of Man could be compressed.

Look at the ants and at the swarming bees; Thousands of rushing workers never cease To labor blindly, go astray and die.

But as a whole the single creatures still Function and live within a common thought To carry out their contemplated task,

Before the end arrives and ceases all —

Your dust-made body will decay, that’s true,

But in many forms new life will come to you.

You need not always start your life from naught; Your son must suffer if you sinned in life,

Inside your son your gout will come alive;

And what you have perceived, sustained and known For endless ages will remain your own!

ADAM

That is the reminiscence of your age;

But in my heart my fervent longings rage:

I seek to know my days and years to come,

What I shall strive for in my martyrdom.

EVE

I also seek to see my future day:

Will not my beauty wane and fade away?

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