Petofi
Poem title: Freedom and Love
On July 31, 1849, the Hungarian patriotic poet Petofi fought in the bloody battle of Sykesburg He died in a battle with the Tsarist Russian army at the age of 26.
Life is precious
Love is more valuable
For freedom
Both can be thrown away
"Life is precious, love is even more valuable, and both can be thrown away for the sake of freedom." When people mention this poem, which has been widely read around the world for more than a hundred years, people will think of its author, the Hungarian poet Petofi. However, under the special political atmosphere in China in the 1960s, "Petofi Club" once again became an ominous term. If we look back at history objectively, we can know that the great Hungarian poet was a heroic fighter in the European Revolution of 1848 who was deeply concerned and praised by Marx and Engels. His poems also left a profound legacy for oppressed nations around the world. precious literary heritage.
■Growing up in the environment of the struggle for national freedom and singing for love
On January 1, 1823, Petofi Sandor was born on the Danube River under the rule of the Austrian Empire In a small Hungarian town on the Avd Plain, his father was a poor Slavic butcher and his mother was a Magyar serf. According to the laws of the time, his family was at the bottom of society.
Some of the ancestors come from Hungary, a tribe that the Xiongnu migrated westward during the Han Dynasty in China. It is characterized by a fierce collision between Eastern and Western cultures and occupies a special position in European history. Due to long-term discrimination and oppression from surrounding ethnic groups, Hungarians have been adept at using poetry as a clarion call to encourage their nation to fight for nearly a thousand years. In modern times, a large number of outstanding patriotic poets have emerged. After the 17th century, Hungary had been under the rule of the Austrian Empire and lost its independent status. Uprisings for freedom continued one after another.
Living in this environment, Petofi was willing to listen to the elders telling the legend of the uprising led by the national hero Huss when he was a boy. In a small hotel, he and his companions talked about the story of the Hungarian nation's struggle for independence, which left a deep mark on his young mind. This "free forum" atmosphere also greatly promoted the development and progress of Petofi's language. At a very young age, he could talk freely in Hungarian and Slovak, and he also had a certain foundation in Latin.
In 1835, Petofi, a 12-year-old poor boy, had the opportunity to study in Osade. In three years, he showed his intelligence and talents. In addition to completing the school's required courses, he organized a progressive student group. Read and study the history of the French Revolution and the works of Hungarian classical writers. In 1838, Petofi wrote his debut satirical poem "Farewell". This poem inherits and carries forward the tradition of Hungarian classical poetry, and initially embodies the popular characteristics of poetic language that he has followed throughout his life. He served in the military, worked as a homeless actor, and served as an assistant editor of "Pace Fashion News". His rich social experience deepened the source of his creation.
In September 1846, 23-year-old Petofi met Sendele Yulia, the daughter of Count Ilnots, at a dance. The purity and frankness of this beautiful girl with a slender figure and light blue eyes made the young poet fall in love at first sight. However, the earl, who owned a large amount of land and estates, refused to marry his daughter to a poor poet like Petofi. In the face of resistance, Petofi's feelings for Yulia could not be suppressed. Within half a year, he sent out love poems one after another, such as "To Yulia", "I am a person with love", "You Love" "It's spring", "The desolate autumn wind whispers in the woods", "Give me twenty kisses at once", etc. The treasures in these lyric poems encouraged Yulia to break through the shackles of her father and family, and entered the wedding hall with Petofi a year later.
At this moment, a torrent of revolution has surged across Europe, and the Hungarian people’s uprising is also like surging lava. Petofi's honeymoon was filled with joy and melancholy. Unwilling to indulge in mediocrity in his private life, he wrote the famous motto "Freedom and Love": "Life is precious, love is more expensive..." This masterpiece has been a moving poem that inspires the world's progressive youth for hundreds of years. .
■Use poetry as a clarion call and fight for national independence with passion
In the spring of 1848, the national and class contradictions in Hungary under Austrian rule had reached a fever pitch. Petofi witnessed the people being invaded and enslaved, and shouted loudly: "Are we going to be slaves from generation to generation? Are we never going to have freedom and equality?" The poet began to closely connect his ideals with revolution, determined to He relied on the poor people to fight and wrote a series of concise poems as a clarion call to encourage people to move towards the national democratic revolution.
On March 14, he and other uprising leaders discussed the uprising in a cafe in Pest and adopted the "Twelve Points" political program aimed at implementing bourgeois reforms. That night, Petofi wrote the uprising slogan "Song of the Nation":
Rise up, Hungarians, the motherland is calling!
It’s time, do it now, it’s not too late!
Would you rather be a free man or a slave?
You choose for yourself, that’s the problem!
In the early morning of the 15th, the "Pest March Uprising" that shocked the world began. More than 10,000 rebels gathered in front of the Ethnographic Museum. Petofi recited his "Song of the Nation" in public. The rebels quickly occupied Budapest and made it the center of the European revolution at that time. In April of the following year, the Hungarian Congress also passed the Declaration of Independence and established the Republic of Korea. Engels once pointed out: "Hungary is the only country that has completely abolished the feudal obligations of peasants both legally and practically since the March Revolution."
In the face of the Budapest Uprising, those who were determined to maintain the old European order Austrian Emperor Ferdinand immediately united with Russian Tsar Nicholas I, and 340,000 Russian and Austrian allied forces pressed fiercely on Hungary, which had a population of only 5 million. At a time of national crisis, Petofi wrote a letter to Bem, the most skilled general in warfare: "Please let me go to the battlefield with you. Of course, I will still try my best to serve the motherland with my pen..." On this day in 1848 During the war-torn years, Petofi wrote as many as 106 lyric poems. In January of the following year, Petofi became a major officer. He wrote poems and at the same time directly took up arms to participate in the battle against the Russian-Austrian coalition forces.
■Sacrifice under the spear of Cossack cavalry, leaving more than 800 poems in his short life
In the summer of 1849, the Hungarian revolutionary army fought until the last moment under the oppression of powerful enemies. On the morning of July 31, General Bem formed a cavalry team with 300 people who could still fight, and before the battle started, he specifically asked Petofi to stay. The poet disobeyed the general's order and set off behind the cavalry. These brave Hungarian warriors were quickly overwhelmed and melted when they were locked in a stalemate with several times the enemy. The thin poet was also surrounded by two Russian Cossack cavalry. A scimitar struck him fiercely. The poet dodged, but at the same time another sharp spear had pierced his chest. The poet He fell down in pain...
In the following decades, the Hungarian people still refused to believe that their poet was no longer alive, and legends continued to appear. Some people said they had seen him in a farmer's house, and some people said they had seen Petofi in Russia after being captured. The Hungarian Parliament also conducted a special investigation, but disappointingly, this "witness" had neither served as a soldier nor been captured...
After the resistance struggle of the Hungarian people, the Austrian Empire was Forced to sign an agreement with Hungary in 1867, it recognized that under the premise that the Austrian emperor was the unified head of state, a dualist united national government could be established, and the country's name was also changed to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed at the end of World War I, and Hungary achieved complete independence at the end of 1918.
Petofi was only 26 years old when he died. He left behind a 22-year-old wife and a one-and-a-half-year-old son. In his lifetime, he wrote more than 800 lyric poems and 8 long narrative poems, as well as more than 800,000 words of novels, political commentaries, dramas and travel notes, many of which were completed during the war. Such a high productivity is very rare in the history of European literature.
Petofi occupies a unique position in the development history of Hungarian literature and even the entire nation. He laid the foundation of Hungarian national literature, inherited and developed the fighting tradition of Enlightenment literature, and was praised as "a rose with thorns that grew out of the fertile black soil soaked with the blood of slaves." . For more than a century, Petofi has been recognized by progressive people around the world as a banner for national liberation and literary revolution. His popular poems are still widely read today.
(Dai Jianjun)
"Beijing Youth Daily" July 31, 2002
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