János Arany

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The poet Arany

János Arany (March 2, 1817—October 22, 1882), was a Hungarian journalist, writer, poet, and translator. He is often said to be the "Shakespeare of ballads" – he wrote more than 40 ballads which have been translated into over 50 languages, as well as the Toldi trilogy, to mention his most famous works.

Contents

1 Life
2 Works

2.1 Poems in English

3 External links

Life

He was born in Nagyszalonta, Bihar county, which is now part of Romania. At the time of his birth, his elder sister was already a married woman and his parents, György Arany and Sára Megyeri, were very elderly. János Arany learned to read and write early on, and was reported to read anything he could find in Hungarian and Latin. Since his parents needed support early in Arany's life, he started working at the age of 14 as an associate teacher.

From 1833 he attended the reformed college of Debrecen where he taught himself German and French, though he quickly became tired of scholarly life, and temporarily joined an acting troupe. Later on, he worked in Nagyszalonta, Debrecen and Budapest in teaching, newspaper editing and clerk positions. He was also a figure in the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. Arany died in Budapest.

Works

He translated three dramas of Shakespeare into Hungarian, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet and King John, and they are considered to be some of the greatest translations into Hungarian in history; he also helped other Hungarian translators with his comments, and translated works by Mikhail Lermontov, Aleksandr Pushkin, and Molière. It was said that he taught himself English in prison by comparing an English version of the Bible to a German one while imprisoned for his role in the Revolution.

He is today considered as one of the greatest Hungarian literary figures beside Sándor Petőfi, Endre Ady and Attila József.

Poems in English

The Legend of the Miraculous Hind or The Legend of the Wondrous Hunt
Years, O Years That Are Still to Come
I Lay Down the Lyre
In Autumn
Retrospect
Memorials
The Bards of Wales
On the Slope
Family Circle
The Nightingale
Reply to Petőfi
The Mother of King Matthias
The Two Pages of Szondi
Duel at Midnight
Bier-right or Ordeal by Blood
Becky Scarlet
Corn Husking
Annie with Golden Hair
The Seamstress Girls
Consecration of the Bridge
Mistress Aggie / Mistress Agnes
Imprisoned Souls

External links

[ v]·[ d]·[ e] Hungarian literature
Early sources	Old Hungarian 'Lamentations of Mary' \| Gesta Hungarorum \| Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum \| Chronicon Pictum \| Old Hungarian script
Famous poets	Janus Pannonius \| Bálint Balassa \| Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos \|János Batsányi \| Mihály Csokonai Vitéz \| Dániel Berzsenyi \| Ferenc Kölcsey \| Mihály Vörösmarty \| Sándor Petőfi \| János Arany \| János Vajda \| Endre Ady \| Lőrinc Szabó \| Dezső Kosztolányi \| Árpád Tóth \| Gyula Juhász \| Attila József \| Miklós Radnóti \| Ferenc Karinthy \| István Vas \| János Pilinszky \| Zoltán Zelk
Famous writers	József Kármán \| József Eötvös \| Mór Jókai \| Zsigmond Kemény \| József Petelei \| Zoltán Ambrus \| Géza Gárdonyi \| Kálmán Mikszáth \| Zsigmond Móricz \| Dezső Kosztolányi \| Géza Csáth \| Sándor Márai \| Lajos Nagy \| Albert Wass \| István Örkény
Other authors	Julio Baghy \| Béla Balázs \| Joseph Bard \| Sándor Bródy \| András Fáy \| Mihály Fazekas \| George Fejer \| István Fekete \| Miksa Fenyő \| Jolán Földes \| Árpád Göncz \| Géza Gyóni \| Béla Hamvas \| Gyula Háy \| Sándor Kányádi \| György Károly \| Ferenc Kazinczy \| Zsigmond Kemény \| Károly Kisfaludy \| János Kodolányi \| Péter Kuczka \| Ferenc Molnár \| Ferenc Móra \| György Spiró \| István Széchenyi \| Sándor Weöres\| Miklós Zrínyi \|

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