The Magyar Messiahs - Endre Ady

Endre Ady (1877 - 1918) is regarded as the most significant and influential Hungarian poets of the twentieth century. I am currently wading into some of his work, which has proven to be rather intriguing. Ady broke with the traditional folksy style made eminent by poets like Sándor Petöfi and embraced a more symbolist approach that instantly revolutionized Hungary poetry.

Ady was an interesting character who, among other subjects, frequently addressed religious themes in his poetry. He was one of those poets who spent the bulk of his life wrestling with God, which means most of his religious poems are at best, ambiguous. In any case, his unique style, coupled with the peculiarities of the Hungarian language, has made much of his poetry 'untranslatable.' Regardless, I thought I would take a crack at it here by translating one of my favorites from Ady.  Magyar messiások 

Sósabbak itt a könnyek
S a fájdalmak is mások.
Ezerszer Messiások
A magyar Messiások.
​
Ezerszer is meghalnak
S üdve nincs a keresztnek,
Mert semmit se tehettek,
Óh, semmit se tehettek.



​ Magyar Messiahs

Tears are saltier here
And the suffering differs. 
Thousands of Messiahs
The Magyar Messiahs.
​
They die a thousand times
Their crucifixions unblessed,
Because they could do nothing,
​Oh, they could do nothing.


Note: 'Magyar' is the word Hungarians use to refer to themselves.