János Arany
Encyclopedia
János Arany (ˈjaːnoʃ ˈɒrɒɲ, March 2, 1817—October 22, 1882), was a Hungarian
journalist, writer, poet, and translator. He is often said to be the "Shakespeare
of ballad
s" – he wrote more than 40 ballads which have been translated into over 50 languages, as well as the Toldi trilogy
, to mention his most famous works.
, Bihar county
, (now Hajdú-Bihar), Hungary
which is now part of Romania
. He was the youngest of ten children, but because of tuberculosis
running in the family, only two of them lived beyond childhood. At the time of his birth, his older sister Sára was already married and his parents, György Arany and Sára Megyeri, were 60 and 44 years old, respectively. János Arany learned to read and write early on, and was reported to read anything he could find in Hungarian
and Latin
. Since his parents needed support early in Arany's life, he started working at the age of 14 as an associate teacher.
From 1833 he attended the Reformed College
of Debrecen
where he studied German
and French
, though he quickly became tired of scholarly life, and temporarily joined an acting troupe. Later on, he worked in Nagyszalonta, Debrecen
, and Budapest
as teacher, newspaper editor, and in various clerk positions.
In 1840 he married Julianna Ercsey (1816–1885). They had two children, Julianna, whose early death by pneumonia devastated the poet, and László, who also became a poet.
In 1845, he won the competition of the Kisfaludy Társaság (a literary society) with his writing, "Az elveszett alkotmány" ("The lost constitution" in English).
After Toldi
, one of his most famous works, was published, he and Sándor Petőfi
became close friends (see their letters: To János Arany by Petőfi and Reply to Petőfi by Arany). His friend's death in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848
had a great impact on him.
He was employed as a teacher in Nagykőrös
where the local museum is named after him.
Arany was elected a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
in 1858. He was the secretary-general of the Academy from 1865. Also, he was elected director of the Kisfaludy Society, the greatest literary association of Hungary.
The early death of his daughter, Julianna in 1865 marked the beginning of Arany's hiatus as a poet. He did not write any original pieces until the summer of 1877, when he began working on his poetic cycle entitled Őszikék. Őszikék is substantially different from the previous works of Arany, concerning themes like elderliness, or the imminence of death.
Arany died in Budapest
on October 22, 1882.
, Hamlet
and King John, and they are considered to be some of the greatest translations into Hungarian in history; he also helped other Hungarian translators with his comments, and translated works by Aristophanes
, Mikhail Lermontov
, Aleksandr Pushkin
, and Molière
.
The epic poetry of János Arany presents the legendary and historical past of his nation. The Death of King Buda (1864), the first part of a projected Hun trilogy is one of the best narrative poems in Hungarian literature. The other parts of the trilogy (Ildikó, and Prince Csaba) are unfinished.
One of his most famous poems is A Walesi Bárdok' (The Bards of Wales
). Arany wrote this poem when Franz Joseph I of Austria
visited Hungary for the first time after defeating the Hungarian Revolution of 1848
. Originally Arany was asked to write a poem to praise the Emperor but he wrote a piece concerning the campaigns of Edward I of England
to subjugate the Welsh and trample over their culture. Arany was drawing a parallel here with Austria's treatment of Hungary and the Hungarians.
His poem Dante is one of those few verses in Western literature that can seize concisely the whole meaning and transcendency of human life (Peter Ustinov
- British actor).
Some remarkable pieces of Arany's works have been translated to English by Watson Kirkconnell
.
Arany is today considered as one of the greatest Hungarian poets beside Sándor Petőfi
, Endre Ady
, Miklós Radnóti
and Attila József
.
.
The Arany-album
, a Folk metal
album by Hungarian band Dalriada
is based on popular works by Arany. It won the 2009 HangSúly Hungarian Metal Awards out of 70 contestants.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
journalist, writer, poet, and translator. He is often said to be the "Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
of ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
s" – he wrote more than 40 ballads which have been translated into over 50 languages, as well as the Toldi trilogy
Toldi trilogy
The Toldi trilogy is an epic poem trilogy written by the Hungarian poet János Arany. It was inspired by the legendary strong Miklós Toldi, who served in the Hungarian King Louis the Great's army in the 14th century. He was the King's champion...
, to mention his most famous works.
Biography
He was born in NagyszalontaSalonta
Salonta is a city in Bihor County, Transylvania, Romania, near the Hungarian border.-Population:According to the last Romanian census from 2002, the city has a population of 18,074, made up of Hungarians , Romanians , Roma , and others .In terms of religion, 51.12% are Reformed , 36.46% Romanian...
, Bihar county
Bihar (county)
Bihar is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently mostly in northwestern Romania, where it is administered as Bihor County, and a smaller part in eastern Hungary...
, (now Hajdú-Bihar), Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
which is now part of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. He was the youngest of ten children, but because of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
running in the family, only two of them lived beyond childhood. At the time of his birth, his older sister Sára was already married and his parents, György Arany and Sára Megyeri, were 60 and 44 years old, respectively. János Arany learned to read and write early on, and was reported to read anything he could find in Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
. Since his parents needed support early in Arany's life, he started working at the age of 14 as an associate teacher.
From 1833 he attended the Reformed College
University of Debrecen
The University of Debrecen is a university located in Debrecen, Hungary. It is the oldest continuously operating institution of higher education in Hungary .-History:...
of Debrecen
Debrecen
Debrecen , is the second largest city in Hungary after Budapest. Debrecen is the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar county.- Name :...
where he studied German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, though he quickly became tired of scholarly life, and temporarily joined an acting troupe. Later on, he worked in Nagyszalonta, Debrecen
Debrecen
Debrecen , is the second largest city in Hungary after Budapest. Debrecen is the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar county.- Name :...
, and Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
as teacher, newspaper editor, and in various clerk positions.
In 1840 he married Julianna Ercsey (1816–1885). They had two children, Julianna, whose early death by pneumonia devastated the poet, and László, who also became a poet.
In 1845, he won the competition of the Kisfaludy Társaság (a literary society) with his writing, "Az elveszett alkotmány" ("The lost constitution" in English).
After Toldi
Toldi trilogy
The Toldi trilogy is an epic poem trilogy written by the Hungarian poet János Arany. It was inspired by the legendary strong Miklós Toldi, who served in the Hungarian King Louis the Great's army in the 14th century. He was the King's champion...
, one of his most famous works, was published, he and Sándor Petőfi
Sándor Petofi
Sándor Petőfi , was a Hungarian poet and liberal revolutionary. He is considered as Hungary's national poet and he was one of the key figures of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848...
became close friends (see their letters: To János Arany by Petőfi and Reply to Petőfi by Arany). His friend's death in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Hungarian Revolution of 1848
The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was one of many of the European Revolutions of 1848 and closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas...
had a great impact on him.
He was employed as a teacher in Nagykőrös
Nagykorös
Nagykőrös is a town in Pest county, Hungary.Arany János taught there from about 1851, and a local museum is named for him.- External links :*...
where the local museum is named after him.
Arany was elected a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. Its seat is at the bank of the Danube in Budapest.-History:...
in 1858. He was the secretary-general of the Academy from 1865. Also, he was elected director of the Kisfaludy Society, the greatest literary association of Hungary.
The early death of his daughter, Julianna in 1865 marked the beginning of Arany's hiatus as a poet. He did not write any original pieces until the summer of 1877, when he began working on his poetic cycle entitled Őszikék. Őszikék is substantially different from the previous works of Arany, concerning themes like elderliness, or the imminence of death.
Arany died in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
on October 22, 1882.
Works
He translated three dramas of Shakespeare into Hungarian, A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
, Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
and King John, and they are considered to be some of the greatest translations into Hungarian in history; he also helped other Hungarian translators with his comments, and translated works by Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
, Mikhail Lermontov
Mikhail Lermontov
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov , a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", became the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death in 1837. Lermontov is considered the supreme poet of Russian literature alongside Pushkin and the greatest...
, Aleksandr Pushkin
Aleksandr Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian author of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature....
, and Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
.
The epic poetry of János Arany presents the legendary and historical past of his nation. The Death of King Buda (1864), the first part of a projected Hun trilogy is one of the best narrative poems in Hungarian literature. The other parts of the trilogy (Ildikó, and Prince Csaba) are unfinished.
One of his most famous poems is A Walesi Bárdok' (The Bards of Wales
The Bards of Wales
The Bards of Wales is a ballad by Hungarian poet János Arany, written in 1857. Alongside the Toldi trilogy it is one of his most important works....
). Arany wrote this poem when Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
visited Hungary for the first time after defeating the Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Hungarian Revolution of 1848
The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was one of many of the European Revolutions of 1848 and closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas...
. Originally Arany was asked to write a poem to praise the Emperor but he wrote a piece concerning the campaigns of Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
to subjugate the Welsh and trample over their culture. Arany was drawing a parallel here with Austria's treatment of Hungary and the Hungarians.
His poem Dante is one of those few verses in Western literature that can seize concisely the whole meaning and transcendency of human life (Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
- British actor).
Some remarkable pieces of Arany's works have been translated to English by Watson Kirkconnell
Watson Kirkconnell
Watson Kirkconnell, was a Canadian scholar, university administrator and translator. He is well known in Iceland, Eastern and Central Europe and among Canadians of different origins for his translations of their national poetry, particularly the Hungarians, Ukrainians, Russians, Serbians,...
.
Arany is today considered as one of the greatest Hungarian poets beside Sándor Petőfi
Sándor Petofi
Sándor Petőfi , was a Hungarian poet and liberal revolutionary. He is considered as Hungary's national poet and he was one of the key figures of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848...
, Endre Ady
Endre Ady
Endre Ady was a Hungarian poet.-Biography:Ady was born in Érmindszent, Szilágy county . He belonged to an impoverished Calvinist noble family...
, Miklós Radnóti
Miklós Radnóti
Miklós Radnóti, birth name Miklós Glatter was a Hungarian poet who died in The Holocaust.-Personality and early life:...
and Attila József
Attila József
Attila József was one of the most important and well-known Hungarian poets of the 20th century.-Biography:The son of Áron József, a soap factory worker of Romanian origin from Bánát, and Hungarian peasant girl Borbála Pőcze, he was born in Ferencváros, a poor district of Budapest. He had two elder...
.
Legacy
The first scientific monograph on Arany was written by Frigyes RiedlFrigyes Riedl
Frigyes Riedl was a prominent Hungarian essayist, critic and literature historian. His most famous work is the monography of János Arany, one of the most important 19th century Hungarian poets....
.
The Arany-album
Arany-album
Arany-Album is the sixth studio album of the Hungarian folk metal band Dalriada. The tracks are musicalized versions of popular works by János Arany...
, a Folk metal
Folk metal
Folk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
album by Hungarian band Dalriada
Dalriada (band)
Dalriada is a folk metal band from Sopron, Hungary that was formed in 1998 as Echo of Dalriada, but shortened their name to Dalriada in late 2006. Their third studio album Kikelet and all subsequent albums were successful in the official Mahasz music charts with Szelek peaking at the second...
is based on popular works by Arany. It won the 2009 HangSúly Hungarian Metal Awards out of 70 contestants.
Poems in English translation
- Dante
- The Legend of the Miraculous Hind or The Legend of the Wondrous Hunt
- Years, O Years That Are Still to Come
- I Lay Down the Lyre
- In Autumn
- Retrospect
- Memorials
- The Bards of WalesThe Bards of WalesThe Bards of Wales is a ballad by Hungarian poet János Arany, written in 1857. Alongside the Toldi trilogy it is one of his most important works....
- On the Slope
- Family Circle
- The Nightingale
- Reply to Petőfi
- The Mother of King Matthias
- The Two Pages of Szondi
- Duel at Midnight
- Bier-right or Ordeal by Blood
- Becky Scarlet
- Corn Husking
- Annie with Golden Hair
- The Seamstress Girls
- Consecration of the Bridge
- Mistress Aggie / Mistress Agnes
- Imprisoned Souls
External links
- The Bards of Wales - translated by Watson KirkconnellWatson KirkconnellWatson Kirkconnell, was a Canadian scholar, university administrator and translator. He is well known in Iceland, Eastern and Central Europe and among Canadians of different origins for his translations of their national poetry, particularly the Hungarians, Ukrainians, Russians, Serbians,...
- The Bards of Wales - translated by Bernard Adams
- Epics of the Hungarian Plain
- The Legend of the Wondrous Hunt
- Interview: A contemporary translator, Ádám Nádasdy, compares his own translations of Shakespeare with the translations made by János Arany
- Find-A-Grave profile for János Arany