Page:A history of Hungarian literature.djvu/241

 JOHN ARANY me in His barn that is awaiting me, a nd will sow new seed in my place." And so it was. The ripe corn was garnered on October 22, 1882. Arany's work had its roots in the Hungarian popular poetry, and refiects the life and thoughts of the people. His writings, and those of Petőfi, may, in fact, be regarded as a glorification of the popular ballads and tales. Petőfi took the character of his songs and his lyric style, white Arany owed to them his rich language and epic style. Petőfi possessed a thoroughly lyrical nature ; he was always swayed by his feelings and could look on nothing in a calm, dispassionate manner. Arany, on the other hand, concealed his feelings and appeared tranquil even wh en deeply moved . He observed the world accurately on the wh ole, but he saw ali things in a some­ what gloomy light. The chief features of his poetry are i ts realism and its pondering over the past. It is remarkable that so much objectivity and sobriety should be blended with such strong and deep feeling. To gain a glimpse of his inmost soul we should turn to his poem called Ep ilogue, written towards the end of his life while tooking back over his past career. He had struggled for perfeciion in poetry and had often feJt defeated. " The secret blight," he said, " which mars my efforts is my eternal doubt, and the results l have achi eved burn me like the blood of Nessos." Arany wrote two great epics. The hero of one is a man of the Middle Ages, the mighty Nicholas Toldi. The other deals with the H un kings, Attila a nd Buda. Each poem consists of three parts, but only th e Toldi trilogy was completed. The first part of Toldi is only concerned with a few