Lorinc Szabó's poetry and his translations are outstanding products of Hungarian lyricism. His works not only capture the experience of a certain historical present but also provide a poetic occasion to consider existence in its entirety. In his poetry Szabó portrays a century in which every effort turns into its opposite; the poet himself stands at a crossroads, as does humanity of the twentieth century. In his poem "Tao Te King" (1931) he writes, "your self can be true only with your opposites," and one of his powers as a poet is his ability to bring together such diversity in his compositions. His poetic irregularities, many times praised by his critics, are all attacks on the seemingly unchangeable order. There exist various readings of his lyric works; nevertheless, the simultaneous validity of these different approaches indicates the greatness of his poetry and its place in world...