The End of September - a Love Poem (Translated from Hungarian)

The End of September

More than twenty years ago, my friend Tom Peterdy introduced me to the poems of Sandor Petofi, the great Hungarian poet. Tom knew that I was studying Hungarian and he suggested that I try to translate several of Petofi’s poems. One of them was Szeptember Vegen, which translates to "The End of September’. My friend Tom had fled to Vienna from Budapest with his young wife when the Russians had invaded in 1956. Unfortunately, his wife could not bear to be away from her family and friends and so she soon returned home. Heart broken, Tom continued on to America where I met him around 1990.

Tom loved Sandor Petofi’s poetry, particularly his love poems, and Szeptember Vegen held a special meaning for him. Sandor Petofi wrote this poem in 1847 when he was only 24 years old. Somehow he had a premonition that he would die young. One year later, on July 31,1848 he died in Szegesvar, Hungary, in the battle for independence from Austria. Sandor Petofi had married Julia Szendrey in 1846 and it is presumed that he wrote the poem for her.

Needless to say, I fell in love with Szeptember Vegen too. In fact, it was this poem that inspired me to also try to write poetry. Before you read it, let me remind you that it is never easy to try to translate poetry from one language to another. This is particularly true when translating Hungarian, a Finno-Ugric language, into English, an Indo-European language. The grammar for these two languages is completely different. Generally speaking, Hungarian is more compact than English using verb endings in place of pronouns and noun endings in place of prepositions. I chose not to try to make the translation rhyme, but rather I concentrated on trying to convey what the poet was trying to say. I also slightly modified word order and phrasing to make the verses flow better in English. At the end of this article I have included three links:

1. to another translation which insists on rhyming.
2. to an excellent source for understanding Hungarian grammar, but it is not for beginners.
3. to an on-line Hungarian to English dictionary.

Without any further delay, here is my translation:

　

The End of September

The flowers still bloom in the valley gardens.

The tree is still green outside our window.

But in the distance can you see winter’s world?

Soon the snow will cover over the rooftops.

Yet in my young heart a ray of summer still burns,

And deep within me lives the unending spring.

But behold, my dark hair is already streaked with gray.

The winter frost already strikes my head.

　

Soon the flowers will die, life hurries on.

Come my wife, sit here on my lap.

You who now place your head against my heart,

Will you one day gaze tearfully at my corpse?

If I should die before you,

Will you kneel down at my grave?

Or will you one day bring a young lover with you,

For whom you have forsaken my name?

　

If you cast aside your widow’s veil,

On my grave post hang a dark flag.

I will rise up for you from my earthly grave

In the depths of winter’s night and take it down.

　

To wipe from my eyes the tears shed for you,

Who so easily forgot her devotee,

And to bind up the wounds in the heart of one,

Who still loves you for all eternity.　

Sandor Petofi – September, 1847

　　

http://www.babelmatrix.org/works/hu/Pet%C5%91fi_S%C3%A1ndor/Szeptember_v%C3%A9g%C3%A9n/en/2090-End_of_September

　

http://www.hungarianreference.com/Links/Grammar.aspx

　

http://szotar.sztaki.hu/dict_search.php?L=HUN%3AENG%3AEngHunDict&O=ENG&flash=&E=1&sid=fd0c3807e468ccab44d84103a000d8ea&vk=&in_form=1&W=ij&M=1&P=0&C=1&T=1