Petõfi Sándor
          1823 - 1849



          Sándor - Alexander - Petõfi (his proper name was Petrovics - pron. Petrovitch) is
          perhaps Hungary's most famous poet. Born on 1.1. 1823 in Kiskõrös (Kiskunhalas),
          he died as a soldier during the revolution against the k.u.k.-empire of Vienna the last
          day of july 1849 in Schäßburg/Segesvár/Sighisoara (now Romania).
          Son of a butcher, he left highschool and his family to become an actor, joining a
          theatre troupe and wandering across the country. In 1839 he became a soldier, then
          in 1841 he took up again his unsteady life as a roving actor. After his first booklet
          with poems having been published he got a job as an assistent editor in Pest.
          His poetry soon had its proper tone, as he used the language of the people, thus affec-
          ting the political intentions to abolish latin still being the official language of poli-
          tics and administration in Hungary. His work also was a contribution to give a
          break-through to a poetry close to the people in those days literature, initiating
          the beginning of a new epoch of poetic style. The highly patriotic impetus of his
          lyric was not regarded with benevolence by the authorities but nevertheless loved
          by the hungarian people. For the first time in hungarian poetry Petõfi's lyrics deal
          with personal feelings, always being dominated by a subjective note, thus breaking
          up the poetical conventions of his time. "A haza" (the land of his nation) and love
          for a woman being the "twin-like" components of his whole life and feeling are also
          the two cardinal points of Sándor Petõfi's work. There are quite some of his poems
          talking of these forces - sometimes drifting apart from one another and tearing
          his heart...:
          On march 15, 1848 he left his dearly beloved wife in order to take his place in front
          of the "Revolutionary Youth" in Pest, later serving as "Hadsegéd" (assistent officer)
          of the polish general J. Bem. He lost his life in one of the last battles of the hungarian
          Liberation's War - Szabadság harc- (1848-49).

          Going through Petõfi's poetical work in a chronological way (I am doing so since years
          - mostly while having breakfast), you can easily follow his footsteps and trace his
          emotional ups and downs - it's almost like reading a diary.




    Versei - Seine Gedichte - His Poems

              brushstrokeFélálomban...
              brushstrokeMinek nevezzelek...
              brushstrokeSzeptember végén - September-Ausklang
              brushstrokeHajamnak egy fürtjét levágom ...
              brushstrokeKinn a kertben voltunk ...
              brushstrokeOdajárok, hova ...
              brushstrokeEgypár rövid nap ...
              brushstrokeHegyen ülök... - Ich sitz auf Bergeshöh ...
              brushstrokeNehéz, nehéz a szivem...
              brushstrokeLáttál-e a róna felett...
              brushstrokeSzállnak reményink... - Uns're Hoffnungen fliegen...
              brushstrokeSzeretlek, kedvesem ! - Ich lieb Dich, mein Liebes !
              brushstrokeMulandóság ... - Vergänglichkeit ...- Transitoriness ...
              brushstrokePacsirtaszót hallok megint ... - Ich hör die Lerche wieder singen ...
              brushstrokeRózsabokor a domboldalon ... - Wie der Rosenbusch ...
              brushstrokeBeszél a fakkal a bús õszi szél ...- Der Herbstwind flüstert ...
              brushstrokeReszket a bokor, mert ...- So wie der Zweig erzittert ...
              brushstrokeÉj van ...- Nacht ist's ...
              brushstrokeMég alig volt reggel - Kaum erst war's noch Morgen ...
              brushstrokeEreszkedik le a felhõ - Yun jiang/Ai ying






      Note: The hungarian characters 'ö'-long and 'ü'-long do not display correctly (with strokes instead of dots) - sorry! 'ö'-long often displays with 'õ' instead, 'ü'-long somtimes with 'û'



    You are reader nr.



    since January 1998


    (Homepage) | (My Poems)