Poetry
Psyché
Not translated into English
Sándor Weöres · 1972
Synopsis
The writings of Lónyay Erzsébet, known as Psyché, an imaginary poet born in 1795, the daughter of a wealthy nobleman and of a Gypsy chief's daughter. Poems, letters, memories and diary pages, in the language of the early nineteenth century, follow her childhood, her youth and then her adult life: her meetings with Berzsenyi, Kazinczy or Goethe, her free loves, her marriage to Baron Zedlitz. The voices of real contemporaries and that of an editor complete the portrait of a woman who never existed.
Context
The book appeared in 1972 from Magvető, with the subtitle “Writings of a poetess of former times”. The author invents Lónyay Erzsébet as the companion of a real poet of the period, László Ungvárnémeti Tóth, and has her voice converse with those of Goethe, Hölderlin, Csokonai or Kazinczy. The text mixes rococo, sentimentalism, classicism and romanticism, popular songs, hymns, Latinisms and Gypsy songs; critics long debated the share of narrative contained in this collection.
Who it is for
Nearly three hundred pages of mixed verse and prose, in a deliberately archaic language; no French or English translation has been located.
Prizes and reception
Received with praise by critics on its publication, and adapted for the screen by Gábor Bódy in 1980.