✝ God / Faith 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage 💪 Resilience ⚔ Battle / War 🌿 Nature | Prayerful
Key Facts
1.One of the most somber national anthems in the world, reflecting centuries of Hungarian suffering
2.The last line suggests Hungarians have already atoned for their sins, an unusual sentiment for a national anthem
3.January 22, when the poem was completed, is celebrated as the Day of Hungarian Culture
Lyrics
Only the first stanza is typically performed at official events
Isten, áldd meg a magyart
Jó kedvvel, bőséggel,
Nyújts feléje védő kart,
Ha küzd ellenséggel;
Bal sors akit régen tép,
Hozz rá víg esztendőt,
Megbűnhődte már e nép
A múltat s jövendőt!
Isten, áldd meg a magyart
Jó kedvvel, bőséggel,
Nyújts feléje védő kart,
Ha küzd ellenséggel;
Bal sors akit régen tép,
Hozz rá víg esztendőt,
Megbűnhődte már e nép
A múltat s jövendőt!
Őseinket felhozád
Kárpát szent bércére,
Általad nyert szép hazát
Bendegúznak vére.
S merre zúgnak habjai
Tiszának, Dunának,
Árpád hős magzatjai
Felvirágozának.
Értünk Kunság mezein
Ért kalászt lengettél,
Tokaj szőlővesszein
Nektárt csepegtettél.
Zászlónkat gyakran plántáltad
Vad török sáncára,
S nyögte Mátyás bús hadát
Bécsnek büszke vára.
Hajh, de bűneink miatt
Gyúlt harag kebledben,
S elsújtád villámidat
Dörgő fellegedben,
Most rabló mongol nyilát
Zúgattad felettünk,
Majd töröktől rabigát
Vállainkra vettünk.
Hányszor zengett ajkain
Ozmán vad népének
Vért ont-Loss-Szászi bércein
A győzedelmi ének!
Hányszor támadt tenfiad
Szép hazám, kebledre,
S lettél magzatod miatt
Magzatod hamvvedre!
Bújt az üldözött, s hazát
Nem lelé hazájában,
S bujdosott kivert s házát
Nagy világon kívül járván,
Bérc-tetőn s völgy-Loss öblében
Holt-Loss váltja könnyet,
Dal-Loss ajkán s szeme fényében
Árvák könnyét öntet.
Szándd meg Isten a magyart
Kit vészek hányának,
Nyújts feléje védő kart
Tengerén kínjának.
Bal sors akit régen tép,
Hozz rá víg esztendőt,
Megbűnhődte már e nép
A múltat s jövendőt!
O God, bless the Hungarians
With good cheer and abundance,
Extend a protective arm to them
When they fight the enemy;
Those whom ill fate has torn apart for long,
Bring them a joyful year,
This people has already atoned
For the past and future!
O God, bless the Hungarians
With good cheer and abundance,
Extend a protective arm to them
When they fight the enemy;
Those whom ill fate has torn apart for long,
Bring them a joyful year,
This people has already atoned
For the past and future!
You brought our forefathers
To the sacred peak of the Carpathians,
Through You the blood of Bendegúz
Won a beautiful homeland.
And where the waves of the Tisza
And the Danube roll,
The heroic descendants of Árpád
Flourished.
For us on the plains of Cumania
You ripened waves of grain,
On the vines of Tokaj
You dripped nectar.
Our flag You often planted
On the wild Turkish ramparts,
And the proud castle of Vienna groaned
Beneath the sorrowful army of Matthias.
Ah, but for our sins
Wrath gathered in Your breast,
And You hurled Your lightning bolts
From Your thundering clouds,
First You sent the Mongol's arrows
Whistling above us,
Then from the Turk a yoke of slavery
We took upon our shoulders.
How often did the lips
Of the Ottoman's wild people raise
Victory songs over our mountains
Bathed in blood!
How often did Your own sons
Attack Your breast, fair homeland,
And You became, through Your offspring,
The urn of Your own offspring!
The persecuted hid, yet found
No homeland within his homeland,
And wandered, outcast from his home,
Walking beyond the great wide world,
On mountaintops and in valleys deep
His tears fell,
On his lips a song, in his eyes a gleam,
Orphans' tears he shed.
Pity, O God, the Hungarians
Tossed by the storms,
Extend a protective arm to them
Upon the sea of their torment.
Those whom ill fate has torn apart for long,
Bring them a joyful year,
This people has already atoned
For the past and future!
Translations are non-official and intended to convey meaning, not replace originals
Show full poemShow official version
Analysis
Editorial
Written by Ferenc Kolcsey in 1823, the anthem is a prayer to God asking for blessings on the Hungarian people. The music was composed by Ferenc Erkel in 1844. It is often called 'Himnusz' and reflects the sorrow and resilience of Hungarian history.