Laurel · Sándor Petőfi · Translations from Alexander Petofi, the Magyar Poet

The Hungarian Nation

Sándor Petőfi (1823–1849), translated by John Bowring · 1866

iambic pentameter · ABBAB · 35 lines · from Translations from Alexander Petofi, the Magyar Poet

Is there in Magyar land a single spotUnsanctified by hero Magyar blood?Has not that blood which warmed our sires imbuedOur country's soil,—Alas! the scathing blotOf shame is on their sons' ingratitude.

Has falsehood superseded ancient truth?Have the old lions given birth to hares?O fathers, rich in glory! thro' your tearsCan ye forgive the now degenerate youthThat your proud name, but not your glory bears.

Has not this race of their forefathers heard?Can the old blood run purely through their veins?O if a drop of that old blood remains,By some redeeming deed—some wakening word—'Twill usher Freedom in and break our chains.

Why should we tarry? Are we humbled downTo very beasts of burden—satisfiedTo eat the bread, by despot hands supplied—Blanked in the records of the world's renown—Than so to live, 'twere better to have died.

Shame on thee, outraged nation! Shame on thee,Who once didst fill, in the heroic ageOf history's pages, a transcendant page,And now thou kneelest in thine infamy,A poor slave victim on the vulgar stage.

And woe, and woe is mine! who felt compelledTo lift my hand to scourge my own dear mother;O sadly fated son! and could no otherInflict those bleeding wounds—my heart rebelledWhile my hand smote—I had no sire—no brother

To help me. Shall I then be silent? No!Whate'er be mine, of suffering, sorrow, shame,In spite of heaven itself, my country's name,Until redeemed, I'll doom to waste and woe—Till her soul rises, or mine sinks below.

Words in this poem

magyar n.: One of the dominant people of Hungary, allied to the Finns; a Hungarian. [Hung.]
ingratitude n.: Want of gratitude; insensibility to, forgetfulness of, or ill return for, kindness or favors received; unthankfulness; ungratefulness. [F. ingratitude, L. ingratitudo. See Ingrate.]
wakening n.: The act of one who wakens; esp., the act of ceasing to sleep; an awakening.
didst: , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
scourge n.: A lash; a strap or cord; especially, a lash used to inflict pain or punishment; an instrument of punishment or discipline; a whip. [F. escourgée, fr. L. excoriata (sc. scutica) a stripped off (lash or whip), fr. excoriate to strip, to skin. See Excoriate.]
sadly adv.: Wearily; heavily; firmly.
sire n.: A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
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,]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Hungarian Nation 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, The Hungarian Nation, in Translations from Alexander Petofi, the Magyar Poet (1866), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petofi-poems-bowring/the-hungarian-nation.html, id L29859.

Form and metre

The Hungarian Nation is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBAB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).

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 ABBAB spot^A · blood^B · imbued^B · blot^A · ingratitude^B
2 ABBAB truth^A · hares^B · tears^B · youth^A · bears^B
3 ABBAB heard^A · veins^B · remains^B · word^A · chains^B
4 ABBAB down^A · satisfied^B · supplied^B · renown^A · died^B
5 ABBAB thee^A · age^B · page^B · infamy^A · stage^B
6 ABBAB compelled^A · mother^B · other^B · rebelled^A · brother^B
7 ABBAA no^A · shame^B · name^B · woe^A · below^A

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
Is there in Magyar land a single spot	10	···/···/˘·
Unsanctified by hero Magyar blood?	9	····/˘/··
Has not that blood which warmed our sires imbued	10	······/·˘/
Our country's soil,—Alas! the scathing blot	10	//˘·˘/·/˘·
Of shame is on their sons' ingratitude.	10	······˘/˘˘
Has falsehood superseded ancient truth?	10	·/··˘/˘/˘·
Have the old lions given birth to hares?	10	···/˘/˘···
O fathers, rich in glory! thro' your tears	10	·/˘··/˘···
Can ye forgive the now degenerate youth	10	··˘/··˘/˘·
That your proud name, but not your glory bears.	10	·······/˘·
Has not this race of their forefathers heard?	10	······/·˘·
Can the old blood run purely through their veins?	10	·····/˘···
O if a drop of that old blood remains,	10	········˘/
By some redeeming deed—some wakening word—	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
'Twill usher Freedom in and break our chains.	10	·/˘/˘···/·
Why should we tarry? Are we humbled down	10	···/˘··/˘·
To very beasts of burden—satisfied	10	·/˘··/˘/˘·
To eat the bread, by despot hands supplied—	10	·····/˘·˘/
Blanked in the records of the world's renown—	10	···/˘···˘/
Than so to live, 'twere better to have died.	10	·····/˘···
Shame on thee, outraged nation! Shame on thee,	10	···/·/˘···
Who once didst fill, in the heroic age	10	······˘/˘·
Of history's pages, a transcendant page,	10	·/˘/˘·····
And now thou kneelest in thine infamy,	10	···/˘··/˘˘
A poor slave victim on the vulgar stage.	10	···/˘··/˘·
And woe, and woe is mine! who felt compelled	10	········˘/
To lift my hand to scourge my own dear mother;	11	·········/˘
O sadly fated son! and could no other	11	·/˘/˘····/˘
Inflict those bleeding wounds—my heart rebelled	10	˘/·/˘···˘/
While my hand smote—I had no sire—no brother	11	·······/·/˘
To help me. Shall I then be silent? No!	10	·······/˘·
Whate'er be mine, of suffering, sorrow, shame,	11	˘˘/···/˘/˘·
In spite of heaven itself, my country's name,	10	···/˘/·/˘·
Until redeemed, I'll doom to waste and woe—	10	··˘/······
Till her soul rises, or mine sinks below.	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.

More by Sándor Petőfi

Translations from Alexander Petofi, the Magyar Poet