Photo: Tóth Krisztina
Another CityPoem from Hungary. It is located on a monument at the main square of the Hungarian town Székesfehérvár, once, in the Middle Ages, royal residence and most important city of Hungary, now the centre of the province of Fejér. The poem was written by one of Hungary's most important poets ever: Ády Endre.
The poem draws a parallel between the tragic Hungarian nation and old foot soldiers who did not die and now have lost their function. The poem translates (literally, not poetically) as:
CHANTING, OLD FOOT SOLDIERS
How buzzes, pours, surges the song
In a somewhat old boy’s throat
And how the hurricane was killing them for hours
Out in the trial fields
The foot soldiers, the dejected: defiant, heroic,
They have hardly smelled the gunpowder yet,
But they are heroes already, heroic dead.
Since thousands and thousands years
Always racing towards Death
And the singing never left them
Why? for whom? when? strong
They stood, for this is how they were commanded
And how fine it is to know that we are one
With such a doomed nation
And nation of heroes beyond any hero
That came in a bad time and was put in a bad place
That leaps over Fate, Present, Past
I cry: you could stand the end
You grieved, beat, chanted,
And you die and live: that’s how you were commanded
(Printed bold are the lines in the picture.)
Endre Ady (1877–1919) was a Hungarian poet, one of the most important poets not only in the 20th century but in Hungarian literature in general.
In the beginning of the 1900s Hungarian poets were claiming to follow in the footsteps of Sándor Petõfi writing in an imitated folksy style yet lacking Petõfi's vision (and, mostly, talent) which wasn't able to renew itself. Ady was the first to break with the traditions and promote the new, modern style. Although he liked to see himself as a lonely, never understood revolutioneer, in truth most of the poets of his generation took sides with him (and many of them imitated his style).
Ady was undoubtedly influenced by the works of Baudelaire and Verlaine. He often uses symbolism, his recurring themes are God, Hungary and fight for survival. Other themes are present only in certain periods of his life (money, God, life and death, Léda, Csinszka).
Photo: Tóth Krisztina
Photo: Tóth Krisztina
Original text in Hungarian
The text on the wall is printed bold below.
Valamennyi vén fiú torkán
S hogy ölte órákig az orkán
Künn õket a próba-mezõkön.
Magyarok, öregek, nótásak,
Bakák, búsak: dacosan, hõsön.
Puskaport még alig szagoltak,
De hõsök már, mint hõsön-holtak.
Igy járnak a Végezés ormán
Ezer és ezer évek óta,
Mindig a Halálba loholtak
S el nem hagyta õket a nóta.
Miért? kiért? mikor?: erõsön
Állták, mert így rendelteték el
S be szép ilyen végzetes néppel
Ugyanaznak tudni magunkat.
Ez a regéknek õsi népe
S hõsi népe túl minden hõsön,
Rosszkor jõve s rossz helyre téve
Átugrik Sorsot, Jelent, Voltat.
Fátum és dal népe, ha voltak
Sirok: te megbirtál a véggel,
Búsultál, ütöttél, nótáztál
S halsz és élsz: így rendelteték el.
Inspiring Cities Museum of CityPoems
Inspiring Cities has collected many citypoems over the years, as well as organized salons with citypoets and cities doing special projects. We have two criteria for what a citypoem is: the intention must be poetic, and it must be in the public realm of cities. Shapes, form and locations can and do differ.
The Museum of CityPoems has citypoems from cities all over the world. From Alhambra to Zonnebeke, from Taipei to Lima.
Got one yourself? Mail us your pictures (free of rights) and description, and we will publish.