Szózat

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The Szózat ( German "Call") was written between 1835 and 1836 and is probably the most famous poem by the Hungarian poet Mihály Vörösmarty .

The immediate cause was the patriotically heated mood of the Hungarian public during the “reform era” (see: History of Hungary ) . In a parliamentary debate, István Széchenyi said, among other things:

"A magyarnak csak itt van egyedüli hazája (...) A szegény magyar édes hazánkat kivéve, széles e világon se találtatik." (= "The Hungarian only has his only home here. (...) With the exception of our poor, dear Hungarian home is also to find no other in the wide world. ")

In the compression of Vörösmarty this resulted:

Hazádnak rendületlenűl
légy híve, ó magyar!
Bölcsőd az s majdan sírod is,
mely ápol s eltakar.
A nagy világon e kívül
nincsen számodra hely.
Áldjon vagy verjen sors keze -
itt élned, halnod kell.

A literal German translation reads:

“Be steadfastly loyal to your homeland, oh Hungarian!
This is your cradle and one day your grave,
that cherishes and covers you.
There is no other place for you in the big world.
May the hand of fate bless you or strike you -
you have to live and die here. "

The poem immediately became known and recited throughout the country. The composer Béni Egressy created his first setting as early as 1839 . In 1843 a revised version won first prize in a national theater competition for the best melody to Vörösmarty's poem. The setting became immediately popular and was already known as the “Hungarian Marseillaise ” when it was performed in Paris in 1848 .

As a result, the Szózat became the (unofficial) second Hungarian national anthem alongside the Himnusz . In the 1950s the communist government took unsuccessful steps to make the Szózat the national anthem instead of the Himnusz, which had become uncomfortable because of its Christian text .

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