Page:A history of Hungarian literature.djvu/213

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ALEXANDER PETŐFI
199

Alas! till now we were but slaves;
Our fathers resting in their graves
Sleep not in freedom's soil. In vain
They fought and died free homes to gain
But by the Magyar's God above, etc.

A miserable wretch is he
Who fears to die, my land, for thee!
His worthless life who thinks to be
Worth mare than thou, sweet liberty!
Now by the Magyar's God above, etc.

The sword is brighter than the chain,
Men cannot nobler gems attain;
And yet the chain we wore, Oh, shame!
Unsheath the sword of ancient fame!
For by the Magyar's God above, etc.

The Magyar's name will soon once more
Be honoured as it was before!
The shame and dust of ages past
Our valor shall wipe out at last,
For by the Magyar's God above, etc.

And where our graves in verdure rise
Our children's children to the skies
Shall speak the grateful joy they feel,
And bless our names the while they kneel.
For by the Magyar's God above,
We truly swear
We truly swear the tyrant's yoke
No more to bear.

Petőfi served the cause of freedom as a revolutionary poet, as an orator, and as a journalist. His soul was burning with enthusiasm, and its flame was always pure. "No sound of my lyre, no stroke of my pen, has ever served a mercenary purpose. I sang and wrote as inspired by the