Is this what I'm about to read? A xxv + 267 ( = 292) page poem about the 33 day siege of the Fortress of Szigetvár by an overwhelming Ottoman army?
...I think so.
I think so.
Day 1 (DDRD 3,228) September 4, 2026
Read to page 23 (End of Part One...of Fifteen Parts).
This is quite a change from Sergeant Nilola, for sure. An epic poem about the Persian attack on a Hungarian fortress. And you'll never guess who started the fight.
God.
God was upset with the Hungarians because they had fallen away from Him. So He sent one of his angels to hell to get a demon to go to the Turkish leader to tell him to attack the Hungarians. Kind of a mean take on God, but conversant with the Old Testament.
Not sure about this yet, but I think the reading will go pretty quickly. 🤞
Here's a zinger against the Hungarians / Magyars: "Until they see their own house on fire, / They do not help the houses of their neighbors." (ll. 44-45)
Kind of sums up us as well, doesn't it?
Day 2 (DDRD 3,229) September 5, 2026
Read to page 86 (end of Part Five).
I thought this was interesting: when Mehmet goes after one of the Hungarian soldiers, having seen that his son had been wounded, Zrinyi makes this comparison: "As when a wild tiger sees her club die, / Both the hunter's net and herself she thrashes." (Part 3, ll. 82-83) Zrinyi goes out of his way to compare the Hungarian soldier to a lioness. This strikes me as the opposite of misogyny.
And speaking of misogyny here is a question for every Republican member of Congress: "Is it not better to die as a man, / Than to live in shame before the eyes of all?" (ll. 92-93)
Btw: the lioness soldier is Zrinyi, great grandpa to the poet. Warrior Zrinyi also spares the life of one of the Turks, saying that that warrior had fought with great distinction and that for that reason he didn't want to kill him. Interesting perspective.
I've got to say...for a 500 year-old poem about a battle I have never heard of before, this is pretty good stuff.
Now I'm going to read some more.
I AI-ed this close-up a bit...removed some figures for charity's sake...but it's quite arresting, isn't it? T-shirt time, baby.
As a certifiable old man who doesn't have a whole lot of years left on this planet, these lines struck me forcefully: "I have faith that not long this tired-of body / I will leave here, and we will see each other in heaven." (ll. 36-37)
I tell Jacqueline and Joe this regularly. In one of my prayers (yes, I know) I say, "Let them know that they can talk to me anytime they want to, even beyond the limits of this life, and be certain that we will be reunited in the world to come." I want them to feel that my love for them transcends this existence, and that they will never be alone.
Yet another thing the parents of special needs children have to think about regularly: how to console their children about their deaths.
🤔
And get this: the warrior who was captured is invited to a victory celebration at the Hungarian castle. There he is told that he is not a captive, but an honored guest. When the Turk offers a huge amount of money for his ransom, Zrinyi replies that he doesn't need the money. He then agrees to exchange the captured Turk for a captured Hungarian warrior of no particular distinction (so far as I can tell).
Who ARE these guys?
Most confusing of all, though: after the battle the Hungarians went to the church and thanked God for their victory. They regularly refer to God's help and thank and praise Him, and yet this whole battle was initiated by and sustained by that God. What the fuck?
Just in case you need to know, there's an opera based on this battle, which you can watch HERE.
There are no English sub-titles, but it's still worth a couple of hours if you have the time.
P.S. Read to page 112. Yowza...that's 89 pages. Kinda makes me want to read 11 more.
P.P.S. Read 17 more, to page 129.
Yep.
Day 3 (DDRD 3,230) September 6, 2026
Read to page
