You hang on the wall my dear old playmate,

Your two little button eyes look so very sad.

I know how sorrow can debilitate,

How living forgotten can drive you mad.

Come hither; sit in the palm of my hand,

Turn your friendly little face towards me.

Look at me with joyful shining eyes and

Please chase away my sorrows… impishly…

Together we had spent a lot of time,

Experiencing much joy and much pain,

But we were happy, like kids at springtime,

Two merry buddies, let loose off their chain.

Then… Yes, it happened… A new game started,

Called: Love… and I just forgot about you…

I chased after dreams with feverish head…

And you landed on the wall… hung askew…

Since then you hung up there in solitude,

Your eyes often looking at me sadly,

Whilst I stayed unconcerned about your mood,

Because my own heart was aching badly.

In the morn’ of truth my dream gone astray,

The cruel game of love torn my heart apart;

I came back to you and now we shall play,

You with merry pranks, n’ I with broken heart.

The blissful childhood we spent together,

The age of merriment, happy sojourn,

Passed, vanished into the “ever after”

N’ for me, little friend, will never return…

© P. J. Oszmann. (1951 in Hungarian; English adaptation 2004)

© Illustration: Digital photo enhanced and reduced in Photoshop. (2004)

Written at age 17 this is another piece from my period of “youthful forlorn love.”

(I think it is rather appropriate to post it at age 71. [at the age of my final puberty])

Background history of the Teddy Bear: “He” was a birthday present from my father on my sixth birthday. Shortly after my birthday father passed away.  “Teddy” became my best friend; he had a soul and personality… at least that’s how I remember him.

He was with me everywhere since that day, all through the war years and beyond. He was with me at all the school and University examination, at my wedding and when we escaped from Hungary after the revolution of 1956. In a moment of rush and confusion he was left behind in Vienna the day we boarded the train for England. I was inconsolable about his loss.

The reference to “blissful childhood”, etc. in the last stanza is poetic licence… World War Two made certain that I would have none…

The Teddy Bear featured in the photo was a Birthday present from my wife, as a consolation for the lost original, some years after we settled in England. It looks almost exactly like the original.  It is now kept in my study together with an assortment of some 20 miniature Teddy Bears, all given to me by various members of my family at various occasions, all as consolations for the lost one.

Of course none of them can really replace the original!

The word-by-word translation from Hungarian:

You hang on the wall of my room old playmate

Your two little button eyes look so sad

I understand you, understand your sorrow

I know how difficult it is to live forgotten.

Come here, sit in my palm

Turn your little face towards me

Look at me with joyful, shining eyes

Chase away impishly my ocean-full of torments.

We spent a lot of time together,

We experienced joy and many cruel catastrophes

But we were always merry

Two joyful buddies, two merry rogues.

Then… yes it happened, new game started:

Love; and I forgot about you.

I chased after daydreams with mad, feverish head,

And I hung you on the wall as an ornament

And since then you hung there in quiet solitude

With your little eyes looking sadly at me,

And I was unconcerned about what ailed your heart

Because I suffered too through many painful nights.

The cruel game broke my heart

And my dream vanished in the morn’ of reality

I came back to you and we shall now play

You with marry pranks, and I downhearted.

Because, you know, the happy childhood,

The age of merriment and happiness,

Passed away, ran away hurriedly,