In 1848, there was a revolution against the ruling Hapsburgs - the flashpoint which has assumed mythical status, a little like the storming of the Bastille in France, was the reading of a poem called 'Nemzeti Dal' (National Song) by its author Sandor Petofi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petofi) on Vorosmarty Square in the centre of Budapest. This uprising is celebrated on the 15th March every year but has recently been hijacked by the Magyar Guard and other unpleasant extremist parties but the sentiments that it inspires are still
worth reading - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemzeti_dal
He was killed at the battle of Segesvar although like all heroes, people refuse to believe that he was killed there and he lived to a ripe old age and died having seen the autonomy for Hungary under the Austro-Hungarian empire
A piece of his poetry I found whilst waiting at the airport in one of the many pseudo-Irish/British pubs that seem to exist in this part of the world expresses sentiments that seem to be so revolutionary, but romantic at the same time that they are worth repeating
Szabadsag Szerelem
e ketto kell nekem
szarelmemert folaldozom az eletet
szabadsagert folaldozom szerelmemet
Having surprised a Hungarian colleague at 7.30am over a coffee by reciting this, she happily translated it for me
Freedom and love
These two I need
For love, I sacrifice life
For freedom, I sacrifice my love
Written on the 1st January 1847 - just over a year before his most famous performance and the start of the chain of events that led to his death
The spirit of Petofi lives on in Hungarian day to day - almost any adult can recite some or all of his Nemzeti Dal, whilst he is commemerated in countless streets and squares, a bridge in Budapest and even a national radio station - can't imagine us listening to radio Byron/Kipling or Wordsworth but there we go!!
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