The Striking of Fire by Endre Ady

 

A poem by Endre Ady in translation by Bernard Adams.

The Striking of Fire 

by Endre Ady

Translation by Bernard Adams

 

Great things are only done when there are bold

Men that are venturesome, come to the fore,

Can show their mettle over and again

And, holding to their course, can weather storms.

 

Blessèd may that man be that first struck Fire:

The first in daring of the race of men,

He looked upon the unfamiliar flame

As something that by right he'd give to them.

 

His work, as there he shivered in the snow,

Brought to him tribute due as to a God:

And to this day each valiant man remains

Willing to dare the shedding of his blood.

 

This world is not for the inheritance

Of backward-looking, worthless ne'er-do-wells;

The best of men is he that dares to act

And better only one: the braver still.

 

And he that wants things not to stay the same

Is no more chary of his precious hide

Than was his godsend ancestor of old,

That splendid ancient, he that first struck Fire.

 

 

 

A TŰZ CSIHOLÓJA

 

Csak akkor születtek nagy dolgok,

Ha bátrak voltak, akik mertek

S ha százszor tudtak bátrak lenni,

Százszor bátrak és viharvertek.

 

Az első emberi bátorság

Áldassék: a Tűz csiholója,

Aki az ismeretlen lángra

Úgy nézett, mint jogos adóra.

 

Mint egy Isten, hóban vacogva

Fogadta szent munkája bérét:

Még ma is minden bátor ember

Csörgedezteti az ő vérét.

 

Ez a világ nem testálódott

Tegnaphoz húzó, rongy pulyáknak:

Legkülömb ember, aki bátor     

S csak egy külömb van, aki: bátrabb.

 

S aki mást akar, mint mi most van,

Kényes bőrét gyáván nem óvja:

Mint ős-ősére ütött Isten:

A fölséges Tűz csiholója.

HLO HU

 

Anne Carson

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