George Faludy 1910-2006
George Faludy is revered as one of Hungary's greatest poets. His writing, ranging from love lyrics to political satire to philosophical meditation, reflects a life committed to humanist ideals. A fearless critic of political oppression, Faludy fled arrest in Hungary in 1938 for his anti-Nazi views, and escaped the Holocaust with an invitation to the United States from President Roosevelt. Returning to Hungary after WWII, he was imprisoned by its Communist regime in Recsk, a brutal concentration camp, from 1950 to 1953. There he and a group of others sustained their spirits with secret night-time lectures on literature and history. Faludy left Hungary for England after the suppression of the 1956 Hungarian uprising, and there wrote an extraordinary autobiography, My Happy Days In Hell. Internationally esteemed, he moved to Toronto in 1967. From here he continued to write and lecture, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Toronto in 1978. George Faludy lived at 25 St. Mary St. from 1975 until 1989 when he returned to Hungary after the collapse of Communism.
Michelangelo's Last Prayer
by George Faludy
Your anvil is the earth, and with your right arm
You span the arc of heaven like the sun.
Eight decades on this scaffolding a - lifetime -
I sought a sign of you, but there was none.
Under my chisel marble fell to stonedust,
But only torsos, idols would be born.
I found you not, elusive, radiant, sunburst,
Who glowed there pulsing under every stone.
I have myself become an ancient stone block,
Split by vines, a still, curmudgeonly old rock,
But in my soul the old flame yet burns on.
How can I shed this flesh that holds me prisoner?
Strike me, if you can love a hoary sinner,
Divine Sculptor, My God. I am the stone.
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Toronto Plaques. Full page here.