William Penn Life, 2000 (35. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2000-02-01 / 2. szám

Az embernek igen kényes természeti S magát megvettetve látni nem szereti. Mit nyer hát, ki mindent megvet oktalanul?

Ötét is megveti minden: s kárán tanul. A kevélység csupán a bolondnak , gondja;

Úgy van. Mert a kevély a világ bolondja.

Hát a világnak ily bolondja sok van-é? Hogyne! Sőt, a világ az ily bolondoké: Sőt, már a kevélyek oly nagy számmal vannak,

Hogy aki nem kevély, már azt tartják annak.

Tarka luftballonok! lebegő árnyékok! Gyermekségből támadt fényes buborékok!

LÁM A NEMES ÉRCEK MIND FENÉKRE SZÁLLNAK,

MIKOR AZ OTROMBA TÖKÖK FENN ÚSZKÁLNAK.

Hazafias lelkesedésének, szenvedélyes jövöbelátásának, a felvilágosodásban hitt költői erejének, az alábbi vers az egyik leggyönyörűbb példája:

Kelj fel azért magyar! álmodból serkenj fel!

Már orcáidra süt e nyájas égi jel Kelj fel, s ázsiai Múzsáddal köszöntsed,

Eléje háláló indulatid öntsed Örvendj, hogy elmúlván a setét éjszaka,

Megnyílt a napkelet bársonyos ablaka. Ezáltal egy kövér reménység táplálhat, hogy napod fényes delére felszállhat, Lesz még a magyarnak olyan dicső neve,

Amilyen volt a Mars mezején eleje.

S még azok is lauruszt fűznék magyarinkra,

Kik most finnyás orral néznek héroszinkra.

jer! íme nimfái már a vig Dunának, elődbe

koszorús fővel indulának.

Ezt minap egy jámbor magyar énekelte

S benne a huszadik századot képzelte. Ne is félj, óh magyar, talán akkorára Boldogabb nap jön fel reád valahára:

S aki mérget forral hazádnak ellene, Megveri a magyar seregek Istene.

(második rész következik) IWPIl

The life and work of

Mihály Csokonai Vitéz

(1773-1805)

In this month's "Magyar Nyelv" we present the first of a twopart series on the life and work of the great Hungarian poet and playwright, Mihály Csokonai Vitéz. Considered the forerunner of Sándor Petőfi, his work blossomed during the period of Enlightenment and the simultaneous development of ideology and romanticism.

Assimilating both influencesthe ideologic and romantic-in a fully independent way, Csokonai Vitéz gave the purest lyric expression to the period's new conception of the universe using flexible poetic language capable of expressing mood, philosophic absorption and passion.

The variety of styles and themes found in his work sprang from Csokonai Vitez's personal versatility as well as his sensual and romantic talents.

At the close of the 18th century he ended his career with a poetic cycle named Lilia—his love. In the poem "To the Echo at Tihany", his love complaints are expressed in the simplest and clearest tones.

The poems have been compared to the famous porcelain of Hungary. They permit the grave personal experiences of agony, homelessness, illness and fear of death to glimmer through the most graceful of forms. The poem, "A lelek halhatatlansaga", expresses the confession of believers who witness the suffering of mankind and justly seek consolation. It remains one of the great works of Hungarian and world literature.

Csokonai Vitéz also exhibited a natural bent for dark comedy. His plays, particularly "Dorottya", are considered masterpieces of grotesque morality.

He was bom in Debrecen and spent years wandering throughout

Transdanubia. In 1801 he again settled in Debrecen but soon became seriously ill and eventually died from tuberculosis.

Most of his work has been translated into numerous languages. Here are some excerpts from the poem, "To the Echo at Tihany", translated by George Szirtes:

Tumultuous daughter of Tihany, come forth!

From your sacred hills emerge See one whom fate has deemed of little worth,

Squatting by the ivater's verge.

Here in the pallid moonlight, he Bewails his loss of hopes continually, Heartbroken and desolate. Heartbroken and desolate.

You brazen woods, crude crags, cliffs of the air!

Amplify my sobs and sighs!

You may my griefs with greater kindness share

Than false friends in mortal guise,

Old trusted allies once, the same Who cast me out and slandered my good name.

Mocking my unhappy state Mocking my unhappy state.

My soul can find no comforter of late, Friends are nowhere to be sought They shrug their shoulders when they hear my fate

And dismiss me from their thought. Mankind has neither heart nor soul Therefore I pour into your iron bowl My sad tears and loud complaints My sad tears and loud complaints. And Lilia whom I love, who in her day Fed the hope within my breast,

To laws of tyrants having fallen prey, Follows custom like the rest.

Oh soul, whom all the angels bless Where are you now in my forsakedness On great seas of sadness cast On great seas of sadness cast.

14

Hilliii fill Lile, February 2000