The Siege of Sziget
320
The Siege of Sziget
320Paperback
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Overview
In 1566, Croatian Count Miklós Zrínyi defended the Fortress of Szigetvár against an overwhelming Ottoman siege for 33 days. In the end, with troops and supplies exhausted, he led the remainder of his men in a last charge into the enemy lines, killing thousands before being killed themselves. Almost a hundred years later in 1651, Zrínyi's great-grandson, also Miklós Zrínyi and himself a famed general, composed an epic poem of some 1,500 stanzas recalling in vivid and often fantastic detail the events of the siege, the heroes on both sides, and the climactic final sortie that led to defeat for the Hungarians and painfully empty victory for the Turks.
The epic, written in the fashion of Homer and Tasso, does not content itself with just a historical retelling, however. Written when the Ottoman threat was again looming large over all of Europe, the poet sought to marshal his countrymen, and indeed all Christians, against the cause of the overwhelming forces from the East. He framed his story, therefore, in the larger context of God's burning anger against the apostasy of his followers, which he uses the Turkish invasion to punish. It is only with a return to piety that the Christians can restore God's favor, but if they do — woe to their invaders! The hero, Zrínyi, is one such believer, who is as likely to give a moving speech on the righteousness and supremacy of God's will as he is to massacre those who would assault his home. God rewards him with a martyr's death, but not before giving him the glory of finishing off Sultan Suleiman himself, as the demons summoned by the Sultan's wizard battle the angels who have come to claim the defenders' souls.
Part chronicle of war, part theological treatise, the poem also has episodes of romance and adventure, as each side is at once humanized and made larger than life. The work is today considered to be one of the cornerstones of Hungarian literature, and one of most important works of the seventeenth century of any language, but has been virtually unknown and entirely inaccessible outside of Hungary — until now.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR:
Laszlo Korossy completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the Catholic University of America and is pursuing a Ph.D. in public policy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:
"The Siege of Sziget is a timeless testimony to the Hungarian-Turkish wars and the 150 years of Turkish occupation of Hungary. It is an authentic description of sixteenth-century warfare, military operations, and the soldier's way of life, which in itself is of value apart from the merit of the work as poetry. The combination of the two—its intrinsic value as poetry and as history—makes it one the finest of European epics. László Kőrössy's remarkable translation opens the treasures of one of the cornerstones of Hungarian classic literature."—Béla Gedeon, Cultural Attaché, Embassy of Hungary
"Count Miklós Zrínyi was a brilliant soldier and statesman renowned throughout seventeenth-century Europe, though in Hungary he is revered above all as the author of the last great European epic. Kőrössy is to be congratulated for making this remarkable work available in fluent yet nuanced modern English, thus revealing a Hungarian classic as not only a gem in the crown of the European Baroque but a vital and profoundly human document of the continent's engagement in the contest between Christendom and Islam."—Peter Sherwood, László Birinyi, Sr., Distinguished Professor of Hungarian Language and Culture, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"A delightfully readable English version of the Hungarian epic on the Turkish wars. Kőrössy's rendering captures the cadences of the original. An excellent introduction by George Gömöri places the poem both within the historical context of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Hungary and the poetic tradition withi
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780813218618 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | The Catholic University of America Press |
| Publication date: | 07/28/2011 |
| Pages: | 320 |
| Sales rank: | 732,803 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d) |
Read an Excerpt
The Siege of Sziget
By Miklós Zrínyi
The Catholic University of America Press
Copyright © 2011 The Catholic University of America PressAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8132-1861-8
Chapter One
1 I, who once with youthful mindPlayed with love's sweet verse,
Struggled with Viola's cruelties:
Now with Mars' greater poetry
2 Arms, and heroes I sing! The might of the Turks.
Him who was willing to undergo Suleiman's wrath—
That same Suleiman's mighty arm,
He at whose saber Europe trembled.
3 Muse! Not from rotting green laurels
Do you fashion your crown, nor from frail branches;
But from radiant, celestial, sacred stars
Is woven your crown, from moon and beautiful sun.
4 You, who virgin Mother art, and bore your Lord,
He who was eternal; and you who worship your Son
As your God and great king:
Holy queen, I beseech your mercy!
5 Give my pen power, let me write all as it was:
Of him, who for your son's sacred name valiantly died,
Forsaking this world, in which he had much good,
For which his soul lives on, though his body has died.
6 Allow his name, which still lives among us today,
To increase in fame, so that wherever sun rises
Pagan dogs would see: he who fears God
Can never die, but lives eternally.
7 The great Almighty looked upon the earth,
In one glance took in the world,
But most of all noticed that the Magyars
Do not walk on that path which His Son ordered.
8 Saw He the Magyars' wandering,
Despising God to worship idols:
That they pursue their pleasure without restraint,
That they care only to stuff their throats,
9 That for His holy name there is no reverence,
For His innocent Son's blood, veneration,
No good deeds arise,
Nor for old men is there honor;
10 But much loose virtue and grave blasphemy,
Avarice, hatred, and false divination,
Unnatural perversion and slander,
Theft, murder, and eternal depravity.
11 Because of these, righteously grew His anger,
So he called Archangel Michael unto Himself,
And in His great anger commanded him,
As before His holiness stood the archangel:
12 "Look, behold those stiff-necked and proud Scythians
Who have far departed from being good Hungarians;
The good Christian faith they have trampled underfoot,
They glory in diverse religions.
13 But see the world of the Christians,
You will find not among them any for whom I have done
greater good:
I brought them out of Scythia, which had grown too small
for them;
My Holy Spirit also came upon them.
14 From Scythia, I say, I brought them out,
As from Egypt, the Jewish peoples.
With my mighty arm I crush nations,
Everywhere I destroy, defeat their enemies.
15 In Pannonia, flowing with milk and honey,
I established them in Hungary,
And I bless them in every circumstance,
I hear them, help them in every undertaking;
16 And even with noble hearts I blessed them,
So that one good Magyar could rout ten foreigners,
Nowhere at all have they found enemies so great,
That, like dust in the face of wind, they were not blown away.
17 My Holy Spirit I sent upon them,
To the Christian faith, by my Son, I brought them,
With sainted kings I gifted them,
Peace, dignity, I gave them.
18 But they, in return for so many blessings, ah, it is difficult
to say!
Ah, they are ungrateful, and dared to leave me;
They are not ashamed to betray their God,
To sink into every wretchedness opposed to me.
19 Ah, I regret that so much good I did them.
Did I not raise up vipers upon my own breast?
But now, it is time to make it known to them:
I am the great God of revenge.
20 Go therefore, archangel: fly down into hell,
Choose one of those enraged Furies,
And send her into Sultan Suleiman,
To send him upon the Magyars in true rage.
21 I, then, will give the Turks such power,
So that they will thrash, destroy the wicked Magyars.
So long will the yoke break their stiff necks,
As until they acknowledge their abandoned God.
22 They will cry to me, and I will not hear them,
But I will laugh at their wretched plight;
I will not incline my ear to their complaints,
Upon their weeping I will not turn my eye.
23 So it will be until I have completed my revenge,
To the third and fourth generations there will be
punishment upon them,
And if they do not in time come to their minds,
My eternal curse, my wrath will be upon them.
24 But if they return to me, repenting their sins,
From death to life I will again bring them.
Woe, Turk, is you, the scourge of my fury!
You are such, but I will break you, if these repent.?
25 Archangel Michael began to intercede,
And for the true ones verily entreat,
"My God! Will you destroy the devout?
And for the sake of these impious punish them??
26 But the living God is ready with reply:
"You wish to know my deliberations,
Or examine my great shrouded secrets?
Those which you cannot understand.
27 I will not spare the lash to fly upon my servants,
But he who needs not worry about his death,
I intend to fly to his aid,
And to revive his soul."
28 No further response did the archangel give God,
But spread his lithe wings to the sky,
Flew until—and did not rest—
Until Alecto in hell he found.
29 With a hundred chains she is bound, a hundred restraints on
her hands,
Her hair is snakes, and they writhe on her head,
Bloody venomous scum flows out her two eyes,
Odious sulphur fume spews from her disfigured maw.
30 This Fury the archangel unbound,
And with the power of God to her spoke thus:
"Alecto, God to me commands,
To send you into the Ottoman land.
31 Fly into the heart of Sultan Suleiman,
Raise up in his heart against the Magyars venemous fury,
To bring upon them his great and fearful arms,
To assail their lords and all their strength."
32 Glad is the Fury, delays not in hell,
Begins her flight into great Turkey,
At midnight arrives in Constantinople,
There alights in Suleiman's household.
33 And so, to better convince him,
And to not put fear in his heart:
Upon herself took the form of Selim;
Selim, the father of Suleiman (while he lived).
34 "My son, you sleep," so began her speech,
"And take no note of God's grace,
That He gave you strength, and courage,
Sound mind, sound council, and wealth sufficient.
35 You sleep now, and do not look ahead
At what a great storm Charles7 is gathering before you,
And if you do not take note of it in time,
Here you will be crushed, in bed.
36 Believe, believe, on my august head,
If you give them time enough, they will do away with you,
Country and all, the infidels, faithless dogs;
For if there was unity, they would have strength.
37 There will be, too, because they treat; so charge them,
Do not delay, and give them no time to prepare.
Thus I made the Mamelukes to flee,
Thus I defeated Campson, and ruined the Syrians.
38 Get up, gird a sharp sword to your side,
Go with your armies upon the erring Magyars;
I will be beside you, and over all your affairs
I will faithfully watch, and over all your trifles.
39 Foolishness it is to fight against the Persians,
Many good soldiers there to waste;
That our destiny will not falter,
God wants to teach us.
40 Ishmael to me great sufferings imparted,
But in the end, I still could not break him;
So on you many punishments Tamma11 inflicted,
Vast portions of your forces with cunning he has defeated:
41 But against those Magyars we have always been victorious,
We do not even need to gather our forces very much,
Nor to spend as much, nor to lose as much,
Nor to doubt in our triumph.
42 Be not afraid that anyone should aid the Magyars,
Because I know well the idiotic infidels:
Until they see their own house on fire,
They do not help the houses of their neighbors.
43 Be not afraid, for lo! I have said I will be beside you;
The holy Mahomet also guides your hand.
And then also, dear son, the heroic man
Must cede some things to fortune."
44 So to Sultan Suleiman spoke Alecto,
And she, who had brought in her hand a venomous viper,
Released it into Suleiman's brain:
The snake does not rest until it has reached its destination.
45 From his shoulder to his chest, from his chest to his heart,
Wherever it slides, it leaves everything poisoned;
It enflames his heart and leaves it burning,
To writhe in pride and hatred.
46 Gleefully, Alecto disappears then,
For she saw how she enraged Suleiman.
He, however, jumped up: "To arms! To arms!" he shouts;
Alecto has driven him nearly mad.
47 Cries Suleiman, "O you, Courage,
Who goads me on to such great feats!
Greater are you than man, though in the guise of a man
I saw you speak and advise.
48 Suleiman is ready; he goes whence
You have commanded, he piles infidels in heaps;
I will bathe my steed in a lake of Christian blood,
Cities, fortresses I will cover in ashes."
49 Rising from bed, he commanded
That every officer should establish his camp,
Along with select men, each according to his ability,
Anyone who might beg or timar be.
50 And that in Drinaple, by the waning of May
The entire army would reside in camp.
The chausses are sent in white turbans
To proclaim this to the armies in every nation.
51 Meanwhile Suleiman mounted his best horse,
And his generals he called out to council,
On a flat hill, not far from his gardens;
There he spoke to them thus:
52 "Generals and bashas, you wise soldiers,
By virtue of whose cunning I rule many nations!
You are the pillars of my power,
You, the victors over the pagan Christians.
53 Our current situation you can see:
It does not befit our kingdom to idle,
What we have won by sword, we cannot keep by council;
The empire craves arms and mighty soldiers.
54 Thus we won the Christian world,
That, which would rather pay tribute
Than honorably draw sword against us;
Thus do we honor Muslims.
55 Still, those who march against us, though not many,
Remain, and they dare to show their teeth:
Fools, they don't know that it is better to admit
Defeat than incur harm.
56 The Magyars are these, who have lost their head;
Like a broken ship, by the wind they are tossed.
Since I took the life of Louis,
Many still vie for the crown.
57 True, I do not deny, that if there was unity
Among them, indeed, we would be given much cause for
worry
By the few Magyars, and they would harm us;
Our radiant crown they might smash.
58 But the scourge of God now alights upon them,
Greed, hatred rule over them;
There is no fraternity amongst them, nor wise council;
Therefore, their shining crown is falling.
59 We see with our own eyes the mercy of God,
For he has destined the Hungarian realm to us;
We can always face Tamma in the future,
Let us now ruin the Magyars and their realm.
60 I swear to you upon the living God,
Upon our magnificent crescent and my keen sword,
This night Mahomet in my father's guise
Told me these things with wise words.
61 Captain Arslan also writes me from Buda,
That I should not doubt in my victory.
Behold, I bring this letter also before you;
Read it aloud, scribe, let us consider it."
62 Now a Turkish scribe with loud voice reads:
"Invincible emperor, he your slave, Arslan,
Captain of Buda by your grace,
Humbly writes you with bowed head.
63 If you wish to know the affairs of the Christians,
They have allowed their situation to worsen;
Charles, from council to council
Has himself carried, pondering matters of religion.
64 Nowhere does he have ready troops, and he does not even
think,
Like a madman, that he may sometime need them.
And Maximilian15 lives among the Magyars
Tranquilly, only eating and drinking.
65 The Magyars, indeed, are the most idle of people;
Each hates the other, like dogs;
They have no generals, and even if they had, these
Never listen to the officials of state.
66 My lord, if ever you had the chance to do battle,
There are no others in worse a state;
It seems that even now, in Hungary
I see a river of blood, a multitude of infidels lying in heaps."
67 The generals, having heard Arslan's report,
And seeing above all the emperor's resolute will:
None dare to bar his way,
But each advises agreement to his purpose.
68 Not long after, from great Asia
A great many armies arrive, which were across the sea;
Many numberless Tatars16 from the Meotic lake
Who were dispatched from the Praecopian khan.
69 Young Deliman is the leader of these,
Son of the great khan and great ruler;
Twenty-five thousand number these, and all expert archers,
The select from among many hundreds of thousands.
70 A light force, and brave, and fast like floodwater;
It appears as if every one in his hand carries death,
Because on the backs of good steeds, they hold faith only in
good arms:
They carry no provisions, neither camp gear nor medicine.
71 They say: That Deliman, when many nations
He had wandered to see famed cities,
In Galata he saw beautiful Cumilla,
Cumilla the beautiful, Suleiman's daughter.
72 Cumilla's fine hair entwined the heart
Of youthful Deliman, and all his desire;
One look stole all his strength
So that without her, he wishes not to live.
73 Then he went home, and now in fair battle returns,
Wondering how he could win the beautiful girl.
Unexpectedly, the wretch was disappointed,
Because by then Cumilla had been married to Rushtan beg.
74 Now with restless regret he stands, or sits;
The wretch's eyes unceasingly fill with bitter tears
From which his heart cools like freezing ice;
His mourning mires his life in death.
75 Guard yourself well, General Rushtan, against this one,
For like an enraged wolf, he seeks your death.
The powerful Deliman cannot bear his sorrow,
He will take, if possible, his revenge on you.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Siege of Sziget by Miklós Zrínyi Copyright © 2011 by The Catholic University of America Press. Excerpted by permission of The Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Translator's Acknowledgments....................ixIntroduction by George Gömöri....................xi
Note on Translation....................xxv
PREFACE....................3
PART ONE....................7
PART TWO....................24
PART THREE....................38
PART FOUR....................56
PART FIVE....................72
PART SIX....................87
PART SEVEN....................105
PART EIGHT....................122
PART NINE....................137
PART TEN....................153
PART ELEVEN....................170
PART TWELVE....................185
PART THIRTEEN....................202
PART FOURTEEN....................217
PART FIFTEEN....................236
POSTSCRIPT....................253
Epigrams....................255
Glossary....................257
List of Characters....................259
Bibliography by Steven Béla Várdy....................263