bálint balassi (1554–1594) was a renaissance lyric poet and regarded as a hungarian in the deepest sense, the first to write the words "my sweet homeland" in reference to hungary, a phrase which became a renowned canon of patriotism in hungarian literature throughout the centuries that followed. born into one of the wealthiest and most powerful noble families of the country, with strong ties to the habsburg court, balassi was educated by the protestant reformer péter bornemisza and was already writing notable verse at a very young age. unfortunately, his short life was marked by financial ruin and a series of social failures: an unhappy marriage, unrequited love, slander, legal troubles and a less than prominent military career. he died early in the war against the turkish occupation of hungary during the siege of esztergom.