Forced March

by Miklós Radnóti (Translator), Clive Wilmer, George Gömöri (Translator)

Forced March is a new edition of Radnóti’s selected poems, in the powerful and moving translations of Clive Wilmer and George Gömöri. Poet Dick Davis explains why this book is so important: ‘Radnóti has emerged as the major poetic voice to record the civilian experience of World War II in occupied Europe. His poems are an extraordinary record of a mind determined to affirm its civilization in the face of overwhelming odds. He is one of the very greatest poets of the twentieth century, and Clive Wilmer’s and George Gömöri’s versions are by far the best that exist in English.’ By the time the Second World War broke out, Miklós Radnóti was already an established poet. When the Nazis took over his home-town of Budapest, Radnóti was sent to a labour camp at Bor in occupied Serbia. Then, in 1944, as the Germans retreated from the eastern front, Radnóti and his fellow labourers were force-marched back into Hungary. On 9 November, too weak to carry on, he and many comrades were executed by firing-squad. When the bodies were exhumed the following year, Radnóti was identified by a notebook of poems in his greatcoat pocket. These poems, published in 1946 as Foaming Sky, secured his position as one of the giants of modern Hungarian poetry.

Genres: Poetry, Hungarian Literature

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Miklós Radnóti, birth name Miklós Glatter, was a Hungarian poet who fell victim to the Holocaust.

Radnóti was born into an assimilated Jewish family. His life was considerably shaped by the fact that both his mother and his twin brother died at his birth. He refers to this trauma in the title of his compilation Ikrek hava ("Month of Gemini"/"Month of the Twins").

Though in his last years, Hungarian society rejected him as a Jew, in his poems he identifies himself very strongly as a Hungarian. His poetry mingles avant-garde and expressionist themes with a new classical style, a good example being his eclogues. His romantic love poetry is notable as well. Some of his early poetry was published in the short-lived periodical Haladás (Progress). His 1935 marriage to Fanni Gyarmati (born 1912) was exceptionally happy.

Radnóti converted to Catholicism in 1943. This was partly prompted by the persecution of the Hungarian Jews (from which converts to Christianity were initially exempted), but partly also with his long-standing fascination with Catholicism.

In the early forties, he was conscripted by the Hungarian Army, but being a Jew, he was assigned to an unarmed support battalion (munkaszolgálat) in the Ukrainian front. In May 1944, the defeated Hungarians retreated and Radnóti's labor battalion was assigned to the Bor, Serbia copper mines. In August 1944, as consequence of Tito's advance, Radnóti's group of 3,200 Hungarian Jews was force-marched to Central Hungary, which very few reached alive. Radnóti was fated not to be among them. Throughout these last months of his life, he continued to write poems in a little notebook he kept with him. According to witnesses, in early November 1944, Radnóti was severely beaten by a drunken militiaman, who had been tormenting him for "scribbling". Too weak to continue, he was shot into a mass grave near the village of Abda in Northwestern Hungary. Today, a statue next to the road commemorates his death on this spot.

Eighteen months later, his body was unearthed and in the front pocket of his overcoat the small notebook of his final poems was discovered (his body was later reinterred in Budapest's Kerepesi Cemetery). These final poems are lyrical and poignant and represent some of the few works of literature composed during the Holocaust that survived. Possibly his best known poem is the fourth stanza of the Razglednicák, where he describes the shooting of another man and then envisions his own death.

Reviews

[Michael Bully · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most inspiring books of poetry that I have ever read. A short biography of Miklos Radnoti (1909- 1944) is also included. A Jew, an anti-fascist, who eventually converted to the Catholic faith, someone with great vision and instinctive humanitarian impulses, Radnoti was slowly crushed by anti-semitism and fascism: On 9th November 1944, he was amongst a group of Jews serving in forced labour unit, who were too sick and exhausted to carry, who were shot.By then Hungary was in control of the Nazis.
Already a published poet in the 1930s, his collection 'Keep Walking, you the death condemned' ( 1936) was a strange premonition of his own fate;
"In front, the dark trees ranged in line
Topple towards you; bushes hide
A cat and the chill wind. The road
Turns white with fear, arching its spine."

Radnoti also wrote about the beauty of that natural landscape , and was also a poet of love as these lines from 'Autumn Begins Restlessly ' ( 1941) show
"Ah but your flame must rise above death and autumn
And raise me love, love, along with you.
let the wise thing be to love me today-
Be wise and kiss me, hungry for dreams too."

Joyfully love me, do not leave me, fall
With me into the dark sky sleep creates.
Let's sleep. Out there the thrush is well asleep.
The walnut, falling on fallen leave piled deep,
makes no harsh sound. Reason disintegrates."

'Forced March' is an excellent introduction to Ranoti's work.

[heychipx · Rating 4 out of 5]

« jusqu’à présent dans mon cœur, toute ma rage était comme le pépin, semence noire, au plus profond de la pomme, je savais qu’armé d’un glaive un ange était là toujours qui me suivait, me gardait, qui me portait secours. »

[Robert Walkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is very good. It’s a wonderful introduction to an important Eastern European poet. Radnóti’s story is worth hearing and his poetry is worth reading.

[fióka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hogy én mennyire megörültem, amikor felfedeztem, hogy önjelölt tükörfordítók ügyködésén kívül létezik még másféle átültetése is Radnóti verseinek angolra. Az örömem nem tartott túl sokáig. Ez az összeállítás egyrészt szerintem nem elég reprezentatív, másrészt túlságosan a háborús, fatalista, prófécia-szerű verseire helyezi a hangsúlyt, ez egy kicsit túl sok nyomasztás egyetlen vékonyka kötetben. Bűnei egy részét megbocsátottam, mert a Naptár-ciklus is bekerült a kötetbe. Versmértékekről a fordítás szempontjából nem fogok értekezni, mert nem értek hozzá. A ritmikára mindenképpen figyeltek a fordítók, gondolom, a versmértékre is. A fordítás legnagyobb hibája az, hogy szinte szóról szóra fordít. Emellett túlzottan didaktikus. Elvész benne a költői. Megmagyarázza az eget, az kék. Vagy fordítva: a kék, ami fent van, az az ég. Belesző a versbe és közli, hogy a halál az ellenfél. Lehet, hogy annak, aki nem tud magyarul, mindez nem zavaró. Nekem nagyon az. A nyelvezete pedig, hát… Darabos, nehézkes. Radnótinál a halál is könnyed, akár gyönyörű is, a súlya megvan, mindig tűpontosan érzékelhető, de ez nem jelenti azt, hogy a versei is ólomlábakon járnak. A szándékot mindenképpen értékelem, műfordítani nagyon nehéz. Jó volt betekinteni abba, hogy miképpen is szólnak Radnóti versei angolul.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some real gems in here.