Two poems by Attila József can be read at Seoul metro stations in the translation of Jin Kyoung Ae, a lecturer at the Korean Department.

Professor Jin Kyoung Ae is currently a lecturer at the ELTE Korean Department and the Deputy Director of the ELTE Sejong Institute in Budapest.

She first visited Hungary in 1995 as a Hungarian major at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, where she became acquainted with the poetry of Attila József, ELTE University wrote.

In József Attila’s works, she not only discovered the imprints of 20th-century Hungarian life but also Hungary’s historical and cultural values, as well as differences and points of connection with Korea.

Drawing on her academic background in Hungarian language and literature, she translated and published Attila József’s poetry collection Nagyon fáj (너무아프다) in Korean in 2021, which was the last volume published during the poet’s lifetime.

On January 22, in celebration of Hungarian Culture Day, two of Attila József’s poems translated by Professor Jin—Mama and Nyár—were exhibited at Seoul metro stations.

The poems are displayed both in their original Hungarian version and in Korean translation on the safety walls at Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station (Line 2) and Itaewon Station (Line 6), offering Seoul commuters an opportunity to engage with Hungarian poetry.

source: Dailynews Hungary

11 April is National Poetry Day in Hungary. We celebrate poetry and remember one of the greatest Hungarian poets, Attila József, who was born on this day in 1905.

Let us celebrate both poetry and Attila József today with one of his well-known poems written for his own 32nd birthday and translated masterfully by Peter Zollman.

ON MY BIRTHDAY

To end my thirty-second year

I wrote myself a souvenir –

a pretty

ditty:

a quick impromtu memoir

saluting in this coffee-bar

my birth

on earth.

Thirty two years… Without a doubt

what Hungary has doled me out

was not

a lot.

I could have been a teacher, but

I wear my pencils to the butt

for just

a crust,

for I was sent down from Szeged

by the provost, that egg-headed

old so

and so

who picked on my ’With a Pure Heart’ –

To save the nation from my art

he barred

the bard

and drew his sword against my kind.

His words deserve to be enshrined

to shame

his name:

’Until I do give up the ghost

don’t dream of any teaching post’ –

I quote,

Unquote.

So what matter if I am banned

from Prof. A. Horger’s graduand

grammar

crammer?

I’ll teach my people, one and all,

much greater things than what you call

college

knowledge.

(Peter Zollman)

sources: Hungarian Cultural Centre London: https://www.facebook.com/hcclondon/posts/11-april-is-national-poetry-day-in-hungary-when-we-celebrate-poetry-and-remember/1257702474258746/; Homonnai Nándor – Petőfi Irodalmi MúzeumInfoPic, Közkincs, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17959708

Tiszta szívvel

Nincsen apám, se anyám,
se istenem, se hazám,
se bölcsőm, se szemfedőm,
se csókom, se szeretőm.

Harmadnapja nem eszek,
se sokat, se keveset.
Húsz esztendőm hatalom,
húsz esztendőm eladom.

Hogyha nem kell senkinek,
hát az ördög veszi meg.
Tiszta szívvel betörök,
ha kell, embert is ölök.

Elfognak és felkötnek,
áldott földdel elfödnek
s halált hozó fű terem
gyönyörűszép szívemen.

With a pure heart 

I have neither native sod,
nor a father, mother, god,
cradle gone, the shroud I miss,
lack a lover, lack a kiss.
 
Three days’ hunger, not a bite:
nothing heavy, nothing light.
Just on twenty, strong and well,
twenty years I’ll try to sell.
 
If a buyer can’t be got,
let the devil take the lot.
Pure at heart, I surely will
break and enter, even kill.
 
They will catch me, I’ll be hung,
blessed earth on me be flung,
deadly grasses will then start
growing on my splendid heart.

Kery, Leslie A.

From a pure heart

I have no mother no father
no God no homeland
no cradle no pall
no kisses no lover.

For the third day I have eaten
neither much nor little
my twenty years are a power
I sell my twenty years.

If nobody wants them
the devil may buy them.
With a pure heart I will break in
if need be: I will kill a man.

They will catch me and hang me
Then cover me with blessed earth
and poisonous grass will grow
on my beautiful heart.

Kabdebó Tamás

Pure heart

I am fatherless, motherless,

Godless and countryless,

I have no cradle, no funeral shroud

And no lover to kiss me proud.

For the third day I have had

No food, not a piece of bread.

My strength is my twenty years

I will sell these twenty years. 

And if no one heeds my cry, 

The devil may choose to buy.

My heart’s pure, I’ll burn and loot

If I must, I’ll even shoot. 

They will catch me and string me up

With the good earth cover me up

And death-bringing grass will start 

Growing from my beautiful, pure heart.

John Bátki

Without father, without mother

without God or homeland either,

withour crib or coffin-cover,

without kisses or a lover.

for the third day – without fussing,

I have eaten next to nothing.

My power are my years.

I sell all my twenty years.

Perhaps, if no one else will,

the buyer will be the devil.

With a pure heart – that’s a job,

I may kill and I shall rob.

They’ll catch me, hang me high,

in blessed earth I shall lie,

and poisonous grass will start

to grow on my beautiful heart.

Faminehill

Le tudod fordítani az alábbi verssor részleteket?

1. Istenem

2. bölcsőm

3. szemfedőm

4. áldott föld

5. gyönyörűszép szív

Megoldás

1. my God

2. my cradle/crib

3. my (funeral) shroud/pall

4. blessed earth/sod

5. splendid/beautiful heart

National Poetry Day in Hungary

We celebrate the National Poetry Day on April 11^th in homage to our most famous modern poet, Attila József (1905-37). The poem, translated by Zsuzsanna Ozsváth, marks the 32^nd birthday of the poet.

For My Birthday

Upon my thirty-second year –
what a surprise, this poem here,
knicky-
knacky:

a little gift with which I say,
lurking alone in this café:
happy
happy.

Thirty-two years just blew away,
I never made ten doits a day:
hungry,
Hungary.

A pedagogue I might have been,
not this pen-busting, might-have-been,
saddie
laddie.

But no; Herr College Chancellor
showed me the outside of the door:
mocktor
Doctor.

It was a short sharp shock for sure,
my `father’ poem got its cure;
his word
and sword,

that saved the fatherland from me,
evoked my spirit and set free
its name
and flame.

`As long as I have any say
you’ll not teach here a single day’ –
bibble-
babble.

If Mr Antal Horger’s pleased
our poet’s grammar-study’s ceased –
folly’s
jollies –

no high school, but a nation I,
although he like not, by and by
shall teach,
shall teach.

Születésnapomra

Harminckét éves lettem én –
meglepetés e költemény
csecse
becse:

ajándék, mellyel meglepem
e kávéházi szegleten
magam
magam.

Harminckét évem elszelelt
s még havi kétszáz sose telt.
Az ám,
Hazám!

Lehettem volna oktató,
nem ily töltőtoll-koptató
szegény
legény.

De nem lettem, mert Szegeden
eltanácsolt az egyetem
fura
ura.

Intelme gyorsan, nyersen ért
a „Nincsen apám" versemért,
a hont
kivont

szablyával óvta ellenem.
Ideidézi szellemem
hevét
s nevét:

„Ön, amíg szóból értek én,
nem lesz tanár e földtekén" –
gagyog
s ragyog.

Ha örül Horger Antal úr,
hogy költőnk nem nyelvtant tanul,
sekély
e kéj –

Én egész népemet fogom
nem középiskolás fokon
taní
tani! 

Last year Iain Lindsay, British Ambassador to Hungary, surprised the world on 11 April by reading one of Attila József’s poems in Hungarian. The day is celebrated all around the country, and several events are organized to commemorate the poet’s achievements. Many reading circles invite poets and students to recite his poems, and several other poets’ works are also introduced.

József Attila is one of the most significant figures of Hungarian literature; he not only wrote poems, but also spoke several foreign languages such as French and German. His Villon translations are remarkable. József Attila had a short and tragic life; during his 32 years he often suffered atrocities, he was expelled from university because of one of his poems, he suffered from depression, and was also unfortunate in love. These and several other factors led to a nervous breakdown, and later to his death. It’s still unclear if he committed suicide or died in a tragic accident.

Iain Lindsay is reading the poet’s “Tavasz van! Gyönyörű” (It’s spring! Beautiful!) in Hungarian in the video.

“– Azt akartam kifejezni, hogy itt vagyok és kicsit beszélek magyarul. Ezért áprilisban, a költészet napján természetesnek éreztem, hogy magyar verset mondok a közösségi portálon: József Attila Tavasz van! Gyönyörű! című költeményét.” – mondta el Iain Lindsay magyarul egy interjúban.

source: dailynewshungary.com