This year we celebrated the bicentennial of the National Anthem, as well as the 200th anniversary of the birth of two of our geniuses, Sándor Petőfi and Imre Madách. Éva Bonczidai, the editor-in-chief of the Hungarian Culture magazine, suggested the idea of placing a time capsule in the Hungarian National Bank at the end of the bicentennial memorial year, which would be opened on the 300th birthday by our hopeful heirs. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Hungarian National Bank for undertaking this noble task. We placed an anthology of poems by contemporary Hungarian poets who emerged from Petőfi’s mantle into this time capsule. When compiling the anthology, as we looked for which poem would stand the test of time, one of our filters was whether this or that poem left a mark on another poet’s soul. So, this year, we asked many contemporary poets to suggest a great poem from another contemporary poet. Those we asked to make these verse bets didn’t know that we were selecting for a time capsule, and we promised not to publish who they personally recommended – thus, the desire to conform and all other professional and human commitments fell away from them. This is how the multi-layered message addressed to our future came together. Apart from the editor-in-chief and myself, no one knows, nor can know, whose poems made it into the future anthology. The plan is that in a hundred years, in 2123, the then director-general of the Petőfi Literary Museum will open this time capsule for the first time.
The point of the existence of the Petőfi Literary Museum, of every Hungarian museum, of every public collection, is underpinned by the belief that in a hundred years there will still be someone speaking Hungarian here in the Carpathian Basin. And just as we can still find support today in the lines of the 200-year-old National Anthem, and in Sándor Petőfi and Imre Madách, so in a hundred years there will still be poetry-loving Hungarians who will understand and feel our anthology.
But to win the next hundred years, we’ll need something else. For months, a quote has been stirring in me, originating from Kuno Klebelsberg, published in his 1930 work “In World Crisis,” which goes: “Hungary is the homeland of incompletely thought-out trains of thought. People follow the thread of logical conclusions only to the point where it favors their view and go no further, especially not when the further drawn conclusions show a completely different picture.”
So, to win the next hundred years, we’ll need the intellectual courage to think through the trains of thought to their end. Again, quoting Klebelsberg: to dare to go all the way down the path of thought, even if it leads to a wilderness or a swamp.
We were still planning the bicentennial when Sándor Petőfi’s preface to his Complete Poems, dated January 1, 1847, surfaced. Our 24-year-old Sándor, just coming of age by the standards of that time, writes as guidance: “… according to me, poetry is not a noble salon where one enters powdered and pressed, in shiny boots, but a holy church, which one can enter in peasant sandals, or even barefoot.”
Do you know what the title of our future anthology sealed in the time capsule is? “Time is True.”
This is the essence of Petőfi time, in which we must live: “Time is true / And decides what is not”
Notes:
Historical context:
The text refers to the bicentennial celebrations of significant cultural milestones in Hungary in 2023.
The Himnusz is the Hungarian national anthem, written by Ferenc Kölcsey in 1823.
Literary figures:
Sándor Petőfi (1823-1849): A national poet and revolutionary, central figure of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution.
Imre Madách (1823-1864): A significant Hungarian dramatist and writer, best known for “The Tragedy of Man”.
The concept of “Petőfi’s mantle” is a metaphor for Petőfi’s enduring influence on Hungarian poetry.
Cultural institutions:
Petőfi Literary Museum: A major cultural institution dedicated to preserving Hungarian literary heritage.
Hungarian National Bank: Mentioned as the location for storing the time capsule, highlighting the national importance of the project.
Historical figures:
Kuno Klebelsberg (1875-1932): A prominent Hungarian politician and Minister of Culture, known for his efforts in educational and cultural reforms.
Literary references:
The quote from Petőfi’s preface emphasizes his view of poetry as accessible to all, not just the elite.
The final quote, “Time is true / And decides what is not,” is from Petőfi’s poem “At the End of the Year 1848”, reflecting on historical judgment.
Cultural concepts:
The “Carpathian Basin” refers to the geographical area historically associated with Hungarian culture, extending beyond current borders.
Project details:
The time capsule project involves contemporary poets selecting works for future generations, emphasizing continuity in Hungarian literary tradition.
Homeland Dictionary 