I found Endre Ady's poems really thrilling. They certainly give a sort of obscure or mysterious atmosphere that I think fits perfectly not only with his poems, but with his personality; I think he wanted to transmit us his tragic and problematic vision towards life and life's affairs. Ady's poems seem to me quite rhythmic and even catchy... they have this je ne sais quoi that make them so beautiful, beautifully dark, beautifully tragic, and beautifully attractive.
I think the first two verses of 'Life Terrifies Me' are just perfect and memorable:"Holy ecstasy-swans on great glad Waters
Seize me, but in vain."
He was a very strange man. He wrote this poem that I couldn't use in class (and in any case, couldn't find online) about God...hmm...attacking him, that is completely mind-blowing and disturbing. I have tracked down all of Ady's poems in English that I could find; there was a 500-page volume of them published back in 1969, and I've read that (although I see on Amazon that a volume of his short stories has been published in English, too, and I haven't seen that yet). I am convinced that Ady is a major author in world literature who is less known than he could be because he wrote in a relatively inaccessible language. That happens. If you ever meet a Hungarian, mention Ady, and you will have a new best friend simply because you know about their great poet!
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