Our Country
The sun went down, but not a starletAppeared in heaven—all dark above—No light around, except the taperDim glimmering, and my homely love.
That homely love's a star in heavenThat shines around both near and far,A home of sadness—sad Hungaria!Where wilt thou find that lovely star?
And now my taper flickers faintly,And midnight comes, but in the gleam,Faint as it is, I see a shadowWhich half reveals a future dream.
It brightens as the day-break brightens,Each flame brings forth a mightier flame;There stand two figures in the nimbus—Old Magyar honour—Magyar fame.
O Magyars! look not on your fathers,But bid them hide their brows in night;Your eyes are weak, those suns are dazzling,Ye cannot bear that blasting light.
Time was those ancient, honoured fathers,Could speak the threatening, thundering word!'Twas like the bursting of the storm-wind,And Europe, all responsive, heard!
Great was the Magyar then—his countryHonoured—his name a historyOf glory—now a star extinguished—A fallen star in Magyar sea.
'Twas long ago—the laurel garlandWas round the Magyar forehead bound;Shall fancy—eagle-pinioned—everSee Magyar hero-brow recrowned?
That laurel crown so long has faded—So long thy light has ceased to gleam;Thy greatness seems a myth, thy storyA fable of the past—a dream!
Long have mine eyes been dry and tearless,But now I weep, and can it beThat these are dews of spring—the dawningOf brighter days for Hungary?
And can it—can it be—a meteor,That for a moment burst and blazed—Lighted with brightness all the heavens,And sunk in darkness while we gazed.
No! 'tis a comet, whose returningIs sure as is the march of doom;Hungary shall hail it, blazing, burning,It cannot, will not fail to come.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- homely a.
- Belonging to, or having the characteristics of, home; domestic; familiar; intimate. [From Home, n.]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- nimbus n.
- A circle, or disk, or any indication of radiant light around the heads of divinities, saints, and sovereigns, upon medals, pictures, etc.; a halo. See Aureola, and Glory, n., 5. [L., a rain storm, a rain cloud, the cloudshaped which enveloped the gods when they appeared on earth.]
- magyar n.
- One of the dominant people of Hungary, allied to the Finns; a Hungarian. [Hung.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- thundering a.
- Emitting thunder.
- responsive a.
- That responds; ready or inclined to respond. [Cf. F. resposif.]
- 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,]
- tearless a.
- Shedding no tears; free from tears; unfeeling.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Our Country 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, Our Country, in Translations from Alexander Petofi, the Magyar Poet (1866), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petofi-poems-bowring/our-country.html, id L29857.
Form and metre
Our Country is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 starlet · aboveA · taper · loveA
- 2 -A-A heaven · farA · hungaria · starA
- 3 -A-A faintly · gleamA · shadow · dreamA
- 4 -A-A brightens · flameA · nimbus · fameA
- 5 -A-A fathers · nightA · dazzling · lightA
- 6 -A-A fathers · wordA · wind · heardA
- 8 AA-A garlandA · boundA · ever · recrownedA
- 9 -A-A faded · gleamA · story · dreamA
- 11 -A-A meteor · blazedA · heavens · gazedA
- 12 A-A- returningA · doom · burningA · come
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The sun went down, but not a starlet | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Appeared in heaven—all dark above— | 8 | ˘/·/···· |
| No light around, except the taper | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Dim glimmering, and my homely love. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That homely love's a star in heaven | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| That shines around both near and far, | 8 | ········ |
| A home of sadness—sad Hungaria! | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Where wilt thou find that lovely star? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And now my taper flickers faintly, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| And midnight comes, but in the gleam, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Faint as it is, I see a shadow | 9 | ·······/· |
| Which half reveals a future dream. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| It brightens as the day-break brightens, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Each flame brings forth a mightier flame; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There stand two figures in the nimbus— | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Old Magyar honour—Magyar fame. | 8 | ·/·/˘/·· |
| O Magyars! look not on your fathers, | 9 | ·/·····/˘ |
| But bid them hide their brows in night; | 8 | ········ |
| Your eyes are weak, those suns are dazzling, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Ye cannot bear that blasting light. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Time was those ancient, honoured fathers, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Could speak the threatening, thundering word! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| 'Twas like the bursting of the storm-wind, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And Europe, all responsive, heard! | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Great was the Magyar then—his country | 9 | ···/···/˘ |
| Honoured—his name a history | 8 | /˘···/˘˘ |
| Of glory—now a star extinguished— | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| A fallen star in Magyar sea. | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| 'Twas long ago—the laurel garland | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Was round the Magyar forehead bound; | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Shall fancy—eagle-pinioned—ever | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| See Magyar hero-brow recrowned? | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| That laurel crown so long has faded— | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| So long thy light has ceased to gleam; | 8 | ········ |
| Thy greatness seems a myth, thy story | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| A fable of the past—a dream! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Long have mine eyes been dry and tearless, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| But now I weep, and can it be | 8 | ········ |
| That these are dews of spring—the dawning | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Of brighter days for Hungary? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| And can it—can it be—a meteor, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| That for a moment burst and blazed— | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Lighted with brightness all the heavens, | 9 | /˘·/˘··/˘ |
| And sunk in darkness while we gazed. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| No! 'tis a comet, whose returning | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Is sure as is the march of doom; | 8 | ········ |
| Hungary shall hail it, blazing, burning, | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| It cannot, will not fail to come. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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.