Page:Poetry of the Magyars.djvu/83

Rh 1822, he was called to the ranks of nobility. He translated Lowth's Choice of Hercules from the English. His works are very numerous—sixty volumes at least, independently of many contributions to periodicals. They consist of versions from the classics, school-books, and ethics, and poetry on many topics.

Of, opinions are various and sometimes contrary. He has been admired for his originality by some, and attacked for his servility by others. Döbrentei, however, says of him in a letter to me, "Berzsenyi is truly a national poet, fiery, glowing, soft, and exalted. His language the purest Hungarian." I have heard him compared to a lark soaring and singing in the heavens. The thoughts, and sometimes the phrases, of the Latin and German classics may be traded in some of his works. Nothing can be more natural than the flow of his strains, more awakened and awakening than his sensibilities, more lively than his imagination. The Hungarians call him their national bard, as a special distinction. His compositions are fervent and fiery, and so frequently breathe those warm and passionate appeals to the patriotic feelings of his countrymen which agitate their minds like an intellectual tempest. They