ÿþ<html> <head><title>Isten Áldd Meg a Magyart!</title></head> <body background=bkgd.jpg text=black link=black alink=black vlink=black> <BR> <center> <h2>Magyar Himnusz</h2></center><BR> The National Anthem of Hungary is a prayer to God, asking His blessing upon the people and land of Hungary. The words were written by Kölcsey Ferenc, one of the great poets of the time, and the music was composed by Erkel Ferenc, the famed composer who also wrote the national opera <i>Bánk Bán</i>, for a competition to decide the Anthem in 1823.<BR> I looked for a translation to English, but the very few complete translations I found were truly mediocre, twisting the meanings and the words for purposes of rhyming. I completed the following translation, which lacks all the beauty and prose of the original, but the preserves the meaning completely intact. <BR>The original sheet music <a href=Himnusz.jpg>here</a>. <BR><BR><BR><center> <table width><tr> <td> <PRE> Isten, áldd meg a magyart Jó kedvvel, bQséggel, Nyújts feléje védQ kart, Ha küzd ellenséggel; Bal sors akit régen tép, Hozz rá víg esztendQt, Megbünhödte már e nép A multat s jövendQt! Pseinket felhozád Kárpát szent bércére, Általad nyert szép hazát Bendegúznak vére. S merre zúgnak habjai Tiszának, Dunának, Árpád hQs magzatjai Felvirágozának. Értünk Kunság mezein Ért kalászt lengettél, Tokaj szQlQvesszein Nektárt csepegtettél. Zászlónk gyakran plántálád Vad török sáncára, S nyögte Mátyás bús hadát Bécsnek büszke vára. Hajh, de bqneink miatt Gyúlt harag kebledben, S elsújtád villámidat DörgQ fellegedben, Most rabló mongol nyilát Zúgattad felettünk, Majd töröktQl rabigát Vállainkra vettünk. Hányszor zengett ajkain Ozman vad népének Vert hadunk csonthalmain GyQzedelmi ének! Hányszor támadt tenfiad Szép hazám kebledre, S lettél magzatod miatt Magzatod hamvvedre! Bújt az üldözött s felé Kard nyúl barlangjában, Szerte nézett s nem lelé Honját a hazában, Bércre hág és völgybe száll, Bú s kétség mellette, Vérözön lábainál, S lángtenger fölette. Vár állott, most kQhalom, Kedv s öröm röpkedtek, Halálhörgés, siralom Zajlik már helyettek. S ah, szabadság nem virúl A holtnak vérébQl, Kínzó rabság könnye hull Árvánk hQ szemébQl! Szánd meg Isten a magyart Kit vészek hányának, Nyújts feléje védQ kart Tengerén kínjának. Bal sors akit régen tép, Hozz rá víg esztendQt, Megbünhödte már e nép A multat s jövendQt! </PRE> </td> <td width=20></td> <td> <PRE> O Lord, bless the nation of Hungary With your grace and bounty Extend over it your guarding arm During strife with its enemies Long torn by ill fate Bring upon it a time of relief This nation has suffered for all sins Of the past and of the future! You brought our ancestors up Over the Carpathians' holy peaks By You was won a beautiful homeland For Bendeguz's sons And wherever flow the rivers of The Tisza and the Danube Árpád our hero's descendants Will root and bloom. For us on the plains of the Kuns You ripened the wheat In the grape fields of Tokaj You dripped sweet nectar Our flag you often planted On the wild Turk's earthworks And under Mátyás' grave army whimpered Vienna's "proud fort." Ah, but for our sins Anger gathered in Your bosom And You struck with Your lightning From Your thundering clouds Now the plundering Mongols' arrows You swarmed over us Then the Turks' slave yoke We took upon our shoulders. How often came from the mouths Of Osman's barbarian nation Over the corpses of our defeated army A victory song! How often did your own son agress My homeland, upon your breast, And you became because of your own sons Your own sons' funeral urn! The fugitive hid, and towards him The sword reached into his cave Looking everywhere he could not find His home in his homeland Climbs the mountain, descends the valley Sadness and despair his companions Sea of blood beneath his feet Ocean of flame above. Castle stood, now a heap of stones Happiness and joy fluttered, Groans of death, weeping Now sound in their place. And Ah! Freedom does not bloom From the blood of the dead, Torturous slavery's tears fall From the burning eyes of the orphans! Pity, O Lord, the Hungarians Who are tossed by waves of danger Extend over it your guarding arm On the sea of its misery Long torn by ill fate Bring upon it a time of relief They who have suffered for all sins Of the past and of the future! </PRE> </td> </tr></table> <BR><BR> </body> </html>