Bevezetés Borbély Szilárd Hosszú nap el című kötete ismétlés- és elhallgatásmotívumainak formai és tematikus elemzésébe a nyelv és zene határán
Introduction to the Formal and Thematic Analysis of Repetition and Silence in Szilárd Borbély’s Hosszú nap el [Long Day Away ], at the Intersection of Language and Music

Author(s): Péter Glück
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature
Published by: Scientia Kiadó
Keywords: poems by Szilárd Borbély; repetition; silence; repression;
Summary/Abstract: This paper investigates Szilárd Borbély’s early book of poems Hosszú nap el [Long Day Away], focusing on its motifs and formal articulations of silence, and its potential reinterpretation through a musicological lens. I argue that such a reading positions Borbély on a literary axis alongside Pilinszky, Rilke, and Celan. The initial point of departure is the Kol Nidre prayer text, which raises the central question: how do various forms of suspended speech—silence, repression, unuttered words—become central not only thematically but also structurally? The volume connects the idea of silence with existential and transcendent concerns, particularly through the subject’s confrontation with guilt and death, and the possibility of religious forgiveness. Thematically, the volume is shaped by the annually recurring “Hosszú nap” [Long Day] of Yom Kippur and the cyclical return of sin and forgiveness. Formally, repetition and recurring absence appear in unmarked stanzas that recur in various forms, and on smaller linguistic levels. Drawing on the differing media of music and literature—sound versus language—I reinterpret these structures using concepts from music theory. The organization of music through time and repetition highlights alternative modes of meaning-making, concerning especially silence and interruption. A fugue-like structure can be discerned at several moments: motifs reappear as independent voices, interacting through delay, distortion, and layering. Ultimately, Hosszú nap el [Long Day Away] may be understood as a poetic space where silence operates not as mere absence, but as a dynamic generator of meaning through repetition, variation, and formal disruption—situated at the intersection of poetic and musical expression.

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