Translations from Alexander Petöfi, the Magyar Poet

What it is

This is a book of English translations of poems by Sándor Petőfi, published in London by Trubner & Co. in 1866. The title page names Sir John Bowring as the translator. The book opens with a biographical notice and an introduction, then gives long poems such as Istok, the Fool and Janos, the Hero, followed by many shorter lyrics. The scanned book is available as a PDF from the Internet Archive.

Why it matters

The book was published about seventeen years after Petőfi died in 1849, so it shows how his poetry was received abroad rather than how he first wrote it. An admirer put Hungarian verse into English for British readers, and the biographical notice shaped how they understood the poet. It helps students see how a national poet became known in other countries.

Look closer

• Why does the book begin with a biography before any poems?
• What does the translator's list of honours, including a correspondence with the Hungarian Academy, suggest about who this book was written for?
• What might English readers have missed in poems translated from another language?