Laurels and Miseries:

a comparison between the Argentinian and Hungarian anthems

Sandoval, Cecilia
Hungarian Identity
Doc Nomads edition 9, semester 2
György Csepeli
2260 words
In this essay I will present a comparison between the Hungarian national anthem and the
Argentinian national anthem, with the purpose of underlining the differences between them
and how their lyrics reveal part of the symbolic universe of each nation.

The birth of the Argentinian pride song

First of all, I will focus on the context in which the anthem of my country, Argentina, was
created. In the period in which the Patriotic March appeared, various political, military, social,
cultural and economic events had provoked a fundamental change in the Rio de la Plata
society, which began to feel the strong need to emancipate itself from the mother country.
The old viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata became a nation by the unanimous decision of a
group of natives who became free citizens. In the middle of this climate of freedom, Esteban
de Luca published a patriotic march in 1810. In 1812, the Triumvirate commissioned Fray
Cayetano Rodríguez to write a hymn, but the work was not satisfactory. It was not until 1813
that the Constituent General Assembly asked Vicente López y Planes to create a patriotic
poem, which was finally approved unanimously, and the following year Blas Parera was
commissioned to compose its music.
The Argentine National Anthem was born as "Patriotic March", a version that suffered
changes throughout its history, both in its title and in its lyrics. It was first called "Patriotic
March", then "National Patriotic Song" and later "Patriotic Song". A publication in 1847 called
it " Argentine National Anthem", a name it still retains to the present time.
The first version of the Hymn consisted of many more verses, with a strong anti-monarchist
and anti-Spanish intention. However, with time, and with the idea of maintaining a certain
political proximity with Spanish diplomats, it was decided to modify the verses and shorten
its length, without pejorative dyes about other nations. From 1900 onwards, the following
version was officially adopted:

Hear, mortals, the sacred cry:

"Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!"
Hear the sound of broken chains
See noble equality enthroned.

Their most worthy throne have now opened

The United Provinces of the South.
And the free people of the world reply:
𝄆 "To the great Argentine people, hail!" 𝄇
𝄆 And the free ones of the world reply:
"To the great Argentine people, hail!" 𝄇
 May the laurels be eternal
𝄆 that we were able to achieve 𝄇
Let us live crowned in glory
Or let us swear to die with glory!
𝄆 Or let us swear to die with glory! 𝄇

It seems appropriate to begin with an analysis of the poem itself, focusing on the lyrics and
structure of this last version. As a genre, this poem clearly belongs to the patriotic lyric
genre, since its content is totally dyed of national exaltation.
The style of the composition follows all the canons of neoclassicism and the invocation with
which the Marcha opens is solemn and majestic: it uses the imperative mode to
communicate strength and vigour in the struggle, such as the expressions "oíd" (listen),
"ved" (see) (words that are not used in the current Argentinian language). In the refrain, the
author uses the first person plural (us) to refer to the libertarian and fraternal spirit common
to all the Argentinian people.
The main themes it addresses are the emancipation of a South American people and the
recovery of their dignity as a nation, together with the exaltation of the courage and
greatness of the Argentines. This poetry has served and continues to serve as an instrument
that encourages the maintenance of pride in the conquests achieved and the struggle to
achieve others, and the question of the independence of the people is of great importance.
I would like to focus briefly on one of the main themes of the national anthem: the need for
the independence of the Argentine people. Already in the second sentence of the poem it is
exclaimed (through the use of repetition to give more force to the idea): “Freedom! Freedom!
Freedom!” This is followed by the poetic use of a strong auditive image that seems to
emphasise this feeling of freedom: Hear the sound of broken chains.
The struggles for independence have a very important place in Argentine history, but as is
well known, it is also a reality that most Latin American peoples have lived through. This
dramatic shared experience has generated feelings of fraternity and solidarity among the
peoples of the south of the continent facing that common destiny. The lyrics say: "Their most
worthy throne have now opened/ The United Provinces of the South."
The desire for freedom is consubstantial with the political imagination of the Illustration,
driven by the values of the French Revolution of 1789, which proclaimed the slogan of
"equality, liberty and fraternity". These are the values on which the concept of the modern
state and the concept of the Republic with separation of powers are based.
The political imagination of the 19th century, influenced by romantic ideals, gave these
ideals a new meaning in the Argentine anthem: the nation, that is, the idea of a modern state
that corresponds to the limits of a people bound together by geography, language and
culture, a people that share an "identity". It is this that allows the "free people of the world" to
recognise the existence of a "great Argentine people".
It refers then to a new nation that emerges from the achievement of its identity, after arduous
struggles against Spanish tyranny and oppression. And it awaits the proud greeting of the
free nations of the world.
The last strophe of the hymn evokes the need for such values, obtained through great
efforts, to be timeless and always recognised. The figure of the laurels, a Greek symbol
representing victory, is mentioned. The poem refers to the desire and the need for those
achievements to be sustained over the years, as a commitment to maintain them during life
and until death.

God bless the Hungarians

I will present some remarks concerning the Hungarian national anthem, which lyrics were
written by Ferenc Kölcsey, and the music was composed by Ferenc Erkel. They were the
winners of a public competition that was organised to choose the music for the Hungarian
Anthem and this song was adopted as the anthem from 1844 onwards. It is a very long
hymn, containing about eight stanzas, that is why when important celebrations are held, only
one, the first stanza, is sung. It is well known by the name "O Lord, bless the nation of
Hungary" because that is its first verse.
Reading the Hungarian National Anthem brings to mind the most important stages of
Hungary's more than a thousand years of history, as the poet Ferenc Kólcsey (1790-1839)
evokes in it the great moments of the conquest of the homeland, the glorious scenes of the
age of King Matthias and then the great national catastrophes - the destruction by the
Mongols, the Turkish occupation and the fall after the War of Independence. After so much
suffering over long periods of centuries, the nation has now atoned for its crimes and faults
and can pray to God to give a better and more hopeful future to this country.
Mentioning national faults is not only a typical theme of the religious-patriotic poetry of the
16th and 18th centuries, but also accompanies the rest of Hungarian literature, which is
closely connected with the life and history of the Hungarian people:

O Lord, bless the nation of Hungary

With your grace and bounty
Extend over it your guarding arm
 During strife with its enemies
Long torn by ill fate
Bring upon it a time of relief
This nation has suffered for all sins
Of the past and of the future!

You brought our ancestors up

Over the Carpathians' holy peaks
By You was won a beautiful homeland
For Bendeguz's sons
And wherever flow the rivers of
The Tisza and the Danube
Árpád our hero's descendants
Will root and bloom

For us on the plains of the Kuns

You ripened the wheat
In the grape fields of Tokaj
You dripped sweet nectar
Our flag you often planted
On the wild Turk's earthworks
And under Mátyás' grave army whimpered
Vienna's "proud fort."

Ah, but for our sins

Anger gathered in Your bosom
And You struck with Your lightning
From Your thundering clouds
Now the plundering Mongols' arrows
You swarmed over us
Then the Turks' slave yoke
We took upon our shoulders.

How often came from the mouths

Of Osman's barbarian nation
Over the corpses of our defeated army
A victory song!
How often did your own son agress
 My homeland, upon your breast,
And you became because of your own sons
Your own sons' funeral urn!

The fugitive hid, and towards him

The sword reached into his cave
Looking everywhere he could not find
His home in his homeland
Climbs the mountain, descends the valley
Sadness and despair his companions
Sea of blood beneath his feet
Ocean of flame above.

Castle stood, now a heap of stones

Happiness and joy fluttered,
Groans of death, weeping
Now sound in their place.
And Ah! Freedom does not bloom
From the blood of the dead,
Torturous slavery's tears fall
From the burning eyes of the orphans!

Pity, O Lord, the Hungarians

Who are tossed by waves of danger
Extend over it your guarding arm
On the sea of its misery
Long torn by ill fate
Bring upon it a time of relief
They who have suffered for all sins
Of the past and of the future!

From the first reading, the pessimistic and negative tone of this national anthem is very
noticeable. Words of hopelessness, sadness, and even a reference to a " ill fate " can be
found in this poem, as if it were a curse that has befallen the Hungarian people and from
which they have not been able to free themselves.
This negativism explains much about the identity of the Hungarian nation and the process
of its formation. And this feeling is not only evident in the lyrics of the anthem, but also in the
main Hungarian commemorations or national holidays, which are related to the
remembrance of negative historical events. As György Csepeli explains in his article on
Hungarian negativity: "At the beginning of the 19th century, the author of the National
Anthem of Hungary, Ferenc Kölcsey found the word ill-fate to explain this, and the term
immediately has become a core element in the Hungarian national discourse"(Csepeli,
1997).
In order to understand Hungarian identity, it is necessary to consider the historical context
in which the Hungarian nation has been formed and how it has differentiated itself from its
neighbouring countries. "As subjects of the Habsburg , the Russian and the Osman empires,
the small Central Eastern European nations considered the state they belonged to as
foreign, and could not relate to it as free, tax-paying citizens. They won national
independence eventually, but it was won not by their own efforts, but as a result of world
politics' unpredictable chess games. Civil liberties that are fundamental for Western
European societies could not take root in the societies of the small Central and Eastern
nation states; the safety of life, property and certainty all remained very doubtful".
But what characterises the Hungarian people and differentiates them from the shared misery
of these countries is the strong presence of negativity. There is a strong sense of loneliness
in Hungarian identity in relation to the rest of the world. It is enough to think of its language: it
is spoken only in this country and not a large part of its population knows other more
"universal" languages such as English.
This negation of otherness also leads to a negation of the self. Among the Hungarian
population, self-destructive behaviour is something common and is easily visible: it is
enough to walk through the streets of the great Budapest to smell the intense smell of oil and
fat emanating from the lángos (fried bread, a typical dish) street stands, or to see
innumerable empty or broken bottles of palinka (and any other type of alcoholic beverage)
on the streets all over the city. The number of drunken men stumbling through the streets is
also shocking.

Pride and hopelessness

Both the Argentinian and Hungarian people have suffered great losses and defeats
throughout history and this has left wounds that have not yet healed and that are still present
in the collective memory and in the behaviour of the population. But after analysing the
national anthem of each country, the differences can be clearly seen. The Argentinian
anthem refers to positive feelings of pride, honour, triumph and there is a proclamation of
freedom. It is an encouraging song. On the contrary, as we have seen, the Hungarian
national anthem emphasises negative feelings, feelings of defeat, of sin. It is a totally
discouraging song.
 On the other hand, in the case of the Argentinian anthem, it celebrates the feeling of
community among the peoples of Latin America and the world. And still today, among Latin
Americans we feel strong ties of union and empathy, not only because of geographical
proximity or because most of the countries speak the same language, but also because we
share the wounds of colonisation. In the case of Hungary, which shares certain losses with
other Central and Eastern European countries, the feeling of community is almost
non-existent. As I mentioned, individualism and mistrust predominate.

Consulted Bibliography
György, Csepeli: Hungarian negativism, 2018
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himno_Nacional_Argentino