Erőltetett Menet (Forced March)

Listen to the poem in Hungarian

Miklós RadnótiOriginal Text (September 15, 1944)

Bolond, ki földre rogyván          fölkél és újra lépked,

s vándorló fájdalomként          mozdít bokát és térdet,

de mégis útnak indul,         mint akit szárny emel,

s hiába hívja árok,          maradni úgyse mer,

s ha kérdezed, miért nem?          még visszaszól talán,

hogy várja őt az asszony          s egy bölcsebb, szép halál.

Pedig bolond a jámbor,          mert ott az otthonok

fölött régóta már csak          a perzselt szél forog,

hanyattfeküdt a házfal,          eltört a szilvafa,

és félelemtől bolyhos          a honni éjszaka.

Ó, hogyha hinni tudnám:          nemcsak szivemben hordom

mindazt, mit érdemes még,          s van visszatérni otthon;

ha volna még! s mint egykor          a régi hűs verandán

a béke méhe zöngne,          míg hűl a szilvalekvár,

s nyárvégi csönd napozna          az álmos kerteken,

a lomb között gyümölcsök          ringnának meztelen,

és Fanni várna szőkén          a rőt sövény előtt,

s árnyékot írna lassan          a lassu délelőtt, –

de hisz lehet talán még!          a hold ma oly kerek!

Ne menj tovább, barátom,          kiálts rám! s fölkelek!

Bor, 1944. szeptember 15.

English Translation

The man who, having collapsed          rises, takes steps, is insane;

he’ll move an ankle, a knee,          an errant mass of pain,

and take to the road again          as if wings were to lift him high;

in vain the ditch will call him:          he simply dare not stay;

and should you ask, why not?          perhaps he’ll turn and answer:

his wife is waiting back home,          and a death, one beautiful, wiser.

But see, the wretch is a fool,          for over the homes, that world

long since nothing but singed          winds have been known to whirl;

his housewall lies supine;          your plum tree, broken clear,

and all the nights back home          horripilate with fear.

Oh, if I could believe          that I haven’t merely borne

what is worthwhile, in my heart;          that there is, to return, a home;

tell me it’s all still there:          the cool verandah, bees

of peaceful silence buzzing,          while the plum jam cools;

end-of-the-summer quiet,          sunbathing, sleepy, bent

over gardens, leaves and fruit,          naked and redolent;

that, blonde, my Fanni* is waiting   before the redwood fence,

where morning slowly trances          its shadowed reticence…

But all that could return –          just look at tonight’s full moon!

Don’t go past me, my friend –          shout! and I’ll rise again.

Bor, 15 September 1944

Fanni is Radnóti's wife
The page of the original notebook.

Translation Notes

*”Fanni”: Fanni is Radnóti’s wife

Author Notes

A Hungarian man of Jewish descent, Miklós Radnóti was born in 1909 and was a published poet and writer in Hungary before World War II. Persecuted before and during the war because of his Jewish heritage, he was forced into labor on three occasions. The first was in late 1940, the second from July 1942 to April 1943, and the last from May 1944 until his death later that year, when he was executed and buried in a mass grave during a forced march from the camp in Bor, Serbia.

When his body was exhumed from the grave, a notebook was found on his person, containing a number of poems he had written while a forced laborer in Bor. Despite physical damage to the book, these poems were salvaged and recorded. The selected poem, titled “Erőltetett menet (Forced march)” and dated September 15, 1944, displays autobiographical themes and contrasts hope with despair. His longing for home and wife, as well as his wondering if there is even a home to return to, clash with the weariness and pain of his present moment, as well as with the reader’s knowledge that he ultimately never made it home.The physical state of Radnóti’s notebook tells a story of its own, as the pages bear significant damage from the time the book spent on the poet’s corpse, with parts of the handwritten text faded and blotted. Radnóti seemingly knew what would ultimately happen to him, as the first two pages of the book contain a message written in Hungarian, Serbian, German, French, and English instructing whoever found the book to send it to someone he knew at Budapest University.

First two pages from Miklós Radnóti’s notebook giving instructions on where to deliver it if found

Historical Notes

This poem, Forced March, and others by the same author, Radnóti, were a regular part of the primary and secondary school curricula in Hungary. The historical context of the poem, Forced March, i.e., the Holocaust, was studied along with the poem.

Sources

Miklós Radnóti Was Born a Century Ago. Exhibition of the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 5 May 2009. http://radnoti.mtak.hu/en/04-14.htm. Accessed 19 Dec. 2021.

Poets, Academy of American. You Foolish Men by Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz – Poems | Academy of American Poets. https://poets.org/poem/you-foolish-men. Accessed 19 Dec. 2021.

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Located near the Tang capital city of Chang’an, site of the modern city of Xi’an in Shaanxi province, in central China.
Soldiers of that time commonly wore a white head cloth, similar to what is still worn by some peasants in China today.  The implication is that the conscripts were so young that they didn’t know how to wrap their head cloths, and needed help from elders.
Before China’s unification under the Qin dynasty in 221 B.C. there were several competing smaller kingdoms.  Han and Qin were two of these kingdoms. Han was located east of famous mountain passes that separated that area from the power base of the Qin dynasty, with its capital in Chang’an. The Qin dynasty itself only lasted about 15 years after unification due to its draconian rule, but soldiers under Qin rule retained a reputation as strong fighters.
The area of Guanxi, meaning “west of the passes”, refers to the area around the capital city of Chang’an.
This is an alternative name for a province in western China, now known as Qinghai, which literally means “blue sea”.  Kokonor Lake, located in Qinghai, is the largest saline lake in China.  
Before China’s unification under the Qin dynasty in 221 B.C. there were several competing smaller kingdoms.  Han and Qin were two of these kingdoms. Han was located east of famous mountain passes that separated that area from the power base of the Qin dynasty, with its capital in Chang’an. The Qin dynasty itself only lasted about 15 years after unification due to its draconian rule, but soldiers under Qin rule retained a reputation as strong fighters.
Oulart Hollow was the site of a famous victory of the Irish rebels over British troops, which took place on May 27, 1798. The rebels killed nearly all the British attackers in this battle. (Source: Maxwell, W. H. History of the Irish Rebellion in 1798. H. H. Bohn, London 1854, pp 92-93, at archive.org)
The phrase "United Men" is elaborated upon in the Notes section below.

Ghetto


An Italian word meaning “foundry.” It originally referred to a part of the city of Venice where the Jews of that city were forced to live; the area was called “the ghetto” because there was a foundry nearby. The term eventually came to refer to any part of a city in which a minority group is forced to live as a result of social, legal, or economic pressure. Because of the restrictions placed upon them, ghetto residents are often impoverished.

"You’re five nine, I am do-uble two"


A reference to the year 1959 and the year 2020.

"The Currency"


Meaning US dollars - this is drawing attention to the fact that Cuba is effectively dollarized.

"Sixty years with the dom-ino stuck"


This sentence is a reference to the Cold War notion that countries would turn Communist one after the other - like dominos. Cuba was the first domino, but it got stuck - no one else followed through into communism.

رحلنا


رحلنا, or "rahalna," means "we have left."

Habibi


Habibi means "my love."

Ra7eel


Ra7eel, or "raheel," means "departure."

3awda


3awda, or "awda," means "returning."

أهلاً


أهلاً, or "ahalan," means "welcome."

a5 ya baba


a5 ya baba, pronounced "akh ya baba," means "Oh my father."

golpe


Treece translates "golpe" as "beating", which is correct, however misses the secondary meaning of the word: "coup".

Carlos


The “Carlos” referred to in the poem is most likely Carlos Bolsonaro, a politician from Rio de Janeiro and the second son of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s current president. His and his father’s involvement in Marielle’s murder has been questioned and investigated.