| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1581. Music of Hungary |
| | | By Anne Reeve Aldrich |
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| MY body answers you, my blood | |
| Leaps at your maddening, piercing call | |
| The fierce notes startle, and the veil | |
| Of this dull present seems to fall. | |
| My soul responds to that long cry; | 5 |
| It wants its country, Hungary! | |
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| Not mine by birth. Yet have I not | |
| Some strain of that old Magyar race? | |
| Else why the secret stir of sense | |
| At sight of swarthy Tzigane face, | 10 |
| That warns me: “Lo, thy kinsmen nigh.” | |
| All ’s dear that tastes of Hungary. | |
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| Once more, O let me hear once more | |
| The passion and barbaric rage! | |
| Let me forget my exile here | 15 |
| In this mild land, in this mild age; | |
| Once more that unrestrained wild cry | |
| That takes me to my Hungary! | |
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| They listen with approving smile, | |
| But I, O God, I want my home! | 20 |
| I want the Tzigane tongue, the dance, | |
| The nights in tents, the days to roam. | |
| O music, O fierce life and free, | |
| God made my soul for Hungary! | |
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