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by Sándor Petőfi (1823 - 1849)
Translation by Karl Maria Kertbeny (1824 - 1882)

Világtörténet! mily csodálatos könyv!
Language: Hungarian (Magyar) 
Világtörténet! mily csodálatos könyv!
Mindenki mást olvas belőle.
Egyiknek üdv, másiknak kárhozat,
Egyiknek élet, másiknak halál.
Egyikhez így szól s kardot ad kezébe:
"Eredj és küzdj! nem küzdesz hasztalan,
Az emberiségen segítve lesz."
Másikhoz így szól: "tedd le kardodat,
Hiába küzdenél,
Mindig boldogtalan lesz a világ,
Mint ezredévek óta az."

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Sándor Petőfi (1823 - 1849), no title, appears in Az apostol, excerpted from number 11 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Maria Kertbeny (1824 - 1882) , no title, written 1846, appears in Dichtungen von Alexander Petőfi, in Sternenlose Nächte, no. 23, first published 1858 ; composed by Adalbert von Goldschmidt.
      • Go to the text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2012-03-01
Line count: 11
Word count: 50

O Weltgeschichte! Wundervolles Buch!
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the Hungarian (Magyar) 
O Weltgeschichte! Wundervolles Buch!
Ein Jeder liest was Anderes aus dir;
Der Eine Segen und der Andre Fluch,
Der Leben, Jener Tod dafür.
Du sprichst zu Einem, gibst ein Schwert ihm in die Hand: 
"Geh hin und kämpfe! Nicht vergeblich strebst du, thatentbrannt. 
Der Menschheit wird geholfen, heil ist ihr beschert." 
Zum Andern sprichst du: "Lege ab dein Schwert, 
Vergebens kämpfst und ringst du, 
Zu keinem Ziele dringst du, 
Die Welt bleibt unglückselig immerdar, 
Wie sie's seit Tausenden von Jahren ist und war!"

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Dichtungen von Alexander Petöfi. Aus dem Ungarischen, in eigenen und fremden Übersetzungen herausgegeben von Karl Maria Kertbeny, Leipzig, F. A. Brockhaus, 1858, page 190.


Text Authorship:

  • by Karl Maria Kertbeny (1824 - 1882), no title, written 1846, appears in Dichtungen von Alexander Petőfi, in Sternenlose Nächte, no. 23, first published 1858 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Hungarian (Magyar) by Sándor Petőfi (1823 - 1849), no title, appears in Az apostol, excerpted from number 11
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Adalbert von Goldschmidt (1848 - 1906), "Weltgeschichte", published 1893 [ voice and piano ], from Neue Lieder und Gesänge, no. 14, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-08-07
Line count: 12
Word count: 83

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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