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Szabó Ervin Library of Budapest
1088 Budapest, Ötpacsirta Street 4.
Ötpacsirta Szalon
2023. 2 May 19:00
Passionate love poems, inescapable and tragic historical themes, identity, patriotism, Ettore Majorana, the mysterious nuclear physicist-figure, letters to Endre Ady, Kavafis, Sándor Csoóri, Thomas Mann, Áron Tamási, Géza Szőcs, György Kondrád, a narrative poem about a crash landing, a summing up of existence, landscape poems, existentialist lyrics, all with varied stylistic features and a rich art – Zoltán Böszörményi “Fellázadt szavak” (Rebellious Words) is a selection of László Márton’s poetry, a condensed record of decades of poetic career. Divided into eight cycles, the poet’s eight books of poems give the reader an insight into the most important themes of the poet’s creative career, from the first volumes to the most recent poems. It is important to note that the text of the poems published in “Fellázadt szavak” (Rebellious Words) does not match the poems published in print or online over the years, and the present versions are the final, authentic impressions.
A poem that is able to go beyond its own meaning, to trigger something in the reader, is not born in vain. In the sprawling groves of contemporary poetry, so many exotic plants are the object of admiration, yet after a while we remember neither their form nor their scent, they fade. The reader of the moment is not looking for well-constructed metaphors, deliberate and measured lines, sparkling puns, naturalistic and stripped-down language, but for poetry that goes beyond the craft, in which language can be delicious, magical, not for details, but for the whole, for the totality, to be shown the world from a bird’s eye view. Just as Sándor Weöres, in his work of “Teljesség felé” (Towards Completeness), dedicated to his friend Béla Hamvas, frees the existent from sensual splendour, so poetry must be freed from all kinds of frills and self-serving ornaments. For if not, our poem will be one of the beautiful roses of the literary grove, but after it withers, we will not remember its fragrance, nor its velvety brick-red petals, nor the thorn that tore our skin, nor the pain it caused, nor the beauty of the flower. The challenge for the contemporary poet is to create a poetic toolkit and context that avoids cliché and pathos, and sheds new light on the poetic topos of existence, space-time, freedom, hope, fear, love, and the belief in God. We need to rethink them, because these are themes that concern us all, and they define us in terms of what we think about the malleability of time, the universe, whether there is a God, what we do in this world, and what expressions we find for love. When reading Zoltán Böszörményi’s poems, we are constantly confronted with the relative nature of time, as if we were travelling in a time-space ship, where we can switch from the galaxy of the past to the future and then to the present at any moment, and where everything is relative.
We welcome you to the presentation with readings, music and discussion, which will take place on 2 May at 7 pm in the Ötpacsirta Szalon of the Szabó Ervin Library of Budapest.
Enikő Bollobás, professor, literary historian;
Eszter Laik, writer, editor of the book and a contributor to Irodalmi Jelen;
László Márton, author of the poetry selection “Fellázadt szavak” (Rebellious Words), translator;
The reading will be accompanied by Bence Bánkövi cello performance.
About the volume by Enikő Bollobás:
Perhaps the most striking feature of Böszörményi’s poetry is the way he eliminates the dichotomy of thought and emotion, and even the dichotomy of the concrete and the abstract. In his poems, the spirit and the intellect, the sensual and the passion, merge into one, confirming Paul Valery’s insight that “intellect is characterised by the constant excitement of the sensual world”, while thought is hidden in the poem like nutriment in fruit.
The two ars poetica that frame the volume – “A vers” (The Poem)and “A költő trófeái” (The Trophies of the Poet) – are a statement of Böszörményi’s principles on the value of poetic projection of life lived with passion, the supremacy of the word, and the sanctity of language and poetry. These ideas recur in other pieces in the volume, reinforcing his commitment to language and poetry. His mission as a poet, as he writes, is nothing less than “közös nevezőre hozni/ arasznyi létünkkel/a végtelent” (Mint fényreklámok)” (by our existence finding common ground with the infinite, like neon signs), knowing also that “A költőből is az Isten üzen” (from the poet too, God sends a message). (“A történelem folyosóin” In the Corridors of History).
Eszter Laik‘s thoughts on the”Fellázadt szavak” (Rebellious Words):
It is symbolic that the title of the poem at the head of this volume, which is used as a motto, is “A vers” (The Poem). The words are not empty: the poet has lived his “flesh and blood” reality, because at one point in his life, poetry gave him a new direction and, decades later, brought him back to the reality that is truly his own: literature.
The first line of this outstanding poem inevitably reminds the reader of Sándor Kányádi’s phrase that has become a saying: “A vers az, amit mondani kell” (Poetry is what needs to be said). The Böszörményi poem goes even further: “tanúság arra, hogy vagyunk” (a testimony to the fact that we exist). Necessity, in every sense. Confrontation, “the raw material”, the engine of life. As the poet writes. “a tér, melyben az idő az anyaggal kézen fogva jár” (the space in which time walks hand in hand with matter)
Mondd a verset, hogy belélegezhetővé váljék a valóság.
A vers nem a hamis képzelet, a vers az igazi.
Meg lehet tapogatni, rugdosni, szagolni, nézni,
hálni lehet vele.
A vers nem az esztétika vetülete egy síkidomon,
hanem maga az esztétika,
a mindig újraszülető forradalom.
A vers a tér, melyben az idő az anyaggal kézen fogva jár.
A vers az ősanyag, a tanúság arra, hogy vagyunk.
(A vers nélkül, látod, senkik sem vagyunk.)
A vers az anyag szívdobogása, szívdobogásunk a vers.
Ő a megismerés, az időben feldarabolt jelen, a kaland,
a szeretkezés, a lábunkra felhúzott zokni, a vers a hóesés.
A vers a felszabadításáról szól, önmagad szabadítod
fel önmagad alól, a téged minduntalan leigázó valóságból.
A vers a csend, a megismerés, az eldördülő ágyúban a golyó.
Ritka szavakat gyűjtök, metaforákat,
városok illatát,
mint ahogy Schumacher halmozta fel
versenyautóit,
kezeslábasait, a sok trófeát.
A kötődések és az emlékeztető vajúdások
lila litániáit.
Hiszen nem vezet-e minden ahhoz az egyhez,
a megismételhetetlenhez –, és őrzi a pillanatot,
a száguldás ízét a szájban, a legendákban?
Az univerzális mozzanatok morzsáit gyűjtögetem,
a lendület allegóriáit, a felmagasztalt
és áhított szerelmet.
Titánok vállán mozdul
az alapjaiban megváltozott valóság,
hogy a mágneses térerő arabeszkjeit,
az igazi mást
elmondhassam,
mit soha nem szóltak elődeim,
csak a jelenségek tekintetéből olvasták ki,
mi törvényszerű: egyedi evidencia,
és nem beszél önmagáról,
de biztos,
precíz,
meghatároz.
Csak a csókban érzem ezeket az ízeket,
a felbolydultság zűrzavarában,
az imákban.
S ha megláncolják is kezem,
a szabadon száguldó
gondolattal működik képzeletem,
új világot teremthetek,
új határt a fényűző szónak,
dimenziót,
látványt,
fényességet,
új fészket a fényűző szónak.
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