JOHN ARANY While that state of mind prevailed he had not perseverance enough to write a long poem, yet he was full of inspiration, a nd being thus urged in the direction of epic poetry, he composed his short epics, the ballads. Arany's ballads are amongst the masterpieces of Hungarian poetry. Their subje cts were all taken from Hungarian history, with · one exception , The Bards of Wa les ; and curiously enough, although the subject is English, it had a dtstinctly Hungarian significance. It was inspired by an incident eharacteristic of the time of absolutism (1849- I86o), called after the hated Austrian minister, The Bach era. Despotism m ade a hid for popularity and desired laurels which only a poet can bind into a wreath. I ts instruments wish ed for an ode in praise of the absolute monarch. They secretly approached the chief Hungarian poets, promising them large sums of money, as weil as favour, but ali dedined the task, They went to Aran y, who was a professor in a country town, but he rej ected their , offer w ith scorn. This attitude of the H ungarian poets is idealised in The Bards of Wa les. The subject of the poem is briefty as follows : King Edw4rd visits Wales after it has been subjugated by means of terrihle bloodshed. Here the own er of Montgomery Castle entertained hím in princely fash ion, but no bard is found willing to extol the tyrant in "the banqueting-hall. Moved to wrath the King gives orders that every bard who refused a song in his praise sh all be executed. Five bundred bards lose their lives. But the King, on arriving home, is tormented by visions, and is unable to sleep. The death songs of the martyr bards resound in his ears until he is at last driven to madness. The most dramatic of Arany's ballads is his Call to the Ordeal. Q
