My Prayer
My poor old mother talks of my perdition,And has she not some reason for her care?I know her meaning, and my conscience tells me'Tis long since I have poured to heaven a prayer.
But I will pray—pray with my hands enfolded—Pray with the passion of a soul sincere:"O father hear me—pitying father! hear me!Father in heaven! benignant father, hear!
Grant—grant, Almighty Ruler of the nations—Grant to my country,—but my country's throesThrill thro' me, for which woe shall I implore thyMercy, in such a wilderness of woes!
One only prayer! Look down! behold Hungaria!Is it not piteous? Any change were dear;Save her from perishing—awake—renew her;Father in heaven! benignant father, hear!
For me?—the sweet smiles of a loving maiden,And a swift-footed, well-appointed steed,On which, conveying coronals of laurels,To the sweet smiling maiden I might speed.
I want them, not for garlanding my forehead,Whatever fail, the laurels shall be there;Father in heaven! I thank thee thou hast heard me—Benignant Father! thou hast heard my prayer!"
Words in this poem
- perdition n.
- Entire loss; utter destruction; ruin; esp., the utter loss of the soul, or of final happiness in a future state; future misery or eternal death. [F., fr. L. perditio, fr. perdere, perditum, to ruin, to lose; per (cf. Skr. para away) + -dere (only in comp.) to put; akin to Gr. do. See Do.]
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- benignant a.
- Kind; gracious; favorable. [LL. benignans, p. pr. of benignare, from L. benignus. See Benign.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
My Prayer is in the public domain. This text is taken from Translations from Alexander Petofi, the Magyar Poet, by Sir John Bowring (London: Trübner & Co., 1866), Internet Archive, the John Bowring translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sándor Petőfi, My Prayer, in Translations from Alexander Petofi, the Magyar Poet (1866), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petofi-poems-bowring/my-prayer.html, id L29847.
Form and metre
My Prayer is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A perdition · careA · me · prayerA
- 2 -A-A enfolded · sincereA · me · hearA
- 3 -A-A nations · throesA · thy · woesA
- 4 -A-A hungaria · dearA · her · hearA
- 5 -A-A maiden · steedA · laurels · speedA
- 6 -A-A forehead · thereA · me · prayerA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| My poor old mother talks of my perdition, | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| And has she not some reason for her care? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I know her meaning, and my conscience tells me | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| 'Tis long since I have poured to heaven a prayer. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| But I will pray—pray with my hands enfolded— | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Pray with the passion of a soul sincere: | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| "O father hear me—pitying father! hear me! | 11 | ·/˘··/˘/˘·· |
| Father in heaven! benignant father, hear! | 11 | /˘·/˘˘/˘/˘· |
| Grant—grant, Almighty Ruler of the nations— | 11 | ··˘/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Grant to my country,—but my country's throes | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Thrill thro' me, for which woe shall I implore thy | 11 | ········˘/· |
| Mercy, in such a wilderness of woes! | 10 | /˘···/˘˘·· |
| One only prayer! Look down! behold Hungaria! | 11 | ·/˘···˘/··· |
| Is it not piteous? Any change were dear; | 11 | ···/˘˘/˘··· |
| Save her from perishing—awake—renew her; | 11 | ···/˘˘˘/˘/· |
| Father in heaven! benignant father, hear! | 11 | /˘·/˘˘/˘/˘· |
| For me?—the sweet smiles of a loving maiden, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| And a swift-footed, well-appointed steed, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| On which, conveying coronals of laurels, | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| To the sweet smiling maiden I might speed. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I want them, not for garlanding my forehead, | 11 | ·····/˘˘·/˘ |
| Whatever fail, the laurels shall be there; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Father in heaven! I thank thee thou hast heard me— | 11 | /˘·/······· |
| Benignant Father! thou hast heard my prayer!" | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.