Page:A history of Hungarian literature.djvu/99

 Rh But he did not copy the playfully amorous galanterie of the Greek poet; he substituted his own strong, sincere feelings. Another feature of the age was a passion for solitude. Thoughtful persons, it is true, had always found pleasure in escaping fro m the noise and bustle of town life to the quiet and solitude of Nature, but in the eighteenth century, the influence of Rousseau raised that sentiment to the level of a cult, and some of Csokonai's finest poems are in praise of solitude. Undoubtedly stimulated by Rousseau, his inspiration, however, came direct from the beauties of Lake Balaton, which plays the same part in Hungarian poetry as the lakes of Westmoreland in English.

The public taste was also powerfully impressed by Pope's Rape of the Lock, and, influenced by the English poet, Csokonai wrote a comic epic entitled Dorothy, or the Dames' Victory over Prince Carnival. He did not, however, adopt the satirical style of Pope, but displayed the burlesque, and at times rude, comic character of the society with which he was acquainted. He travesties certain details of the great world-epics in an inimitably amusing way.

The goddess of strife, Eris, causes quarrelling among the guests at a ball, and they divide into two parties and attack one another. One party, that of the old maids, is headed by Dorothy. What is their grievance against Prince Carnival? That the time of Carnival is too short, and there are not enough weddings. They also wish to obtain possession of the register of their births, and even the young women join them. In the course of the strife, Venus arrives, and rejuvenating all the old maids, reconciles them with the rest of the world, and they all marry.

Csokonai was the first to introduce the tone of the old