Memory, Myth, and Bucolic Poetry in Szilárd Borbély’s Ekhó a verandán

Abstract

This article analyzes Szilárd Borbély’s poem Ekhó a verandán in the light of the intersections between bucolic tradition, myth, and memory. At its core lies a modern rewriting of the Echo myth, in which the poet establishes links between personal and collective memory and classical literary traditions. The study shows how bucolic topoi and mythological references are recontextualized within contemporary Hungarian poetry, becoming symbolic figures of absence, loss, and transience. It argues that Borbély’s poetry employs the forms and motifs of bucolic poetry as tools for articulating modern existential experience, offering a renewed perspective on the afterlife of classical tradition.