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“You will hear thunder and remember me,
and think: she wanted storms...”
―
and think: she wanted storms...”
―
“If you were music, I would listen to you ceaselessly, and my low spirits would brighten up.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
“You will hear thunder and remember me,
And think: she wanted storms. The rim
Of the sky will be the colour of hard crimson,
And your heart, as it was then, will be on fire.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
And think: she wanted storms. The rim
Of the sky will be the colour of hard crimson,
And your heart, as it was then, will be on fire.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
“Each of our lives is a Shakespearean drama raised to the thousandth degree.”
―
―
“I seem to myself, as in a dream,
An accidental guest in this dreadful body.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
An accidental guest in this dreadful body.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
“My shadow serves as the friend I crave.”
―
―
“I have a lot of work to do today;
I need to slaughter memory,
Turn my living soul to stone
Then teach myself to live again.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
I need to slaughter memory,
Turn my living soul to stone
Then teach myself to live again.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
“Call me a sinner,
Mock me maliciously:
I was your insomnia,
I was your grief.”
―
Mock me maliciously:
I was your insomnia,
I was your grief.”
―
“As the future ripens in the past,
so the past rots in the future --
a terrible festival of dead leaves.”
― Poems of Akhmatova
so the past rots in the future --
a terrible festival of dead leaves.”
― Poems of Akhmatova
“I myself, from the very beginning,
Seemed to myself like someone's dream or delirium
Or a reflection in someone else's mirror,
Without flesh, without meaning, without a name.
Already I knew the list of crimes
That I was destined to commit.”
―
Seemed to myself like someone's dream or delirium
Or a reflection in someone else's mirror,
Without flesh, without meaning, without a name.
Already I knew the list of crimes
That I was destined to commit.”
―
“Your voice is wild and simple.
You are untranslatable
Into any one tongue.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
You are untranslatable
Into any one tongue.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
“The whole time I was hoping my silence would fit yours and exclamation marks would gently float across time and space so that boundaries would be crossed; the whole time I was praying you would read my eyes and understand what I was never able to understand. See, we were never about butterflies. We’ve always been about burning stars. All about us is unearthly and radiant.”
―
―
“You do not know just what you've been forgiven.”
―
―
“Forgive me, that I manage badly,
Manage badly but live gloriously,
That I leave traces of myself in my songs,
That I appeared to you in waking dreams.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
Manage badly but live gloriously,
That I leave traces of myself in my songs,
That I appeared to you in waking dreams.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
“The word landed with a stony thud
Onto my still-beating breast.
Nevermind, I was prepared,
I will manage with the rest.
I have a lot of work to do today;
I need to slaughter memory,
Turn my living soul to stone
Then teach myself to live again. . .
But how. The hot summer rustles
Like a carnival outside my window;
I have long had this premonition
Of a bright day and a deserted house. ”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
Onto my still-beating breast.
Nevermind, I was prepared,
I will manage with the rest.
I have a lot of work to do today;
I need to slaughter memory,
Turn my living soul to stone
Then teach myself to live again. . .
But how. The hot summer rustles
Like a carnival outside my window;
I have long had this premonition
Of a bright day and a deserted house. ”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
“Rising from the past, my shadow
Is running in silence to meet me.”
―
Is running in silence to meet me.”
―
“And you know, I agree to everything:
I will condemn, I will forget, I will give comfort to the enemy,
Darkness will be light and sin lovely.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
I will condemn, I will forget, I will give comfort to the enemy,
Darkness will be light and sin lovely.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
“I know beginnings, I know endings too,
and life-in-death, and something else
I'd rather not recall just now.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
and life-in-death, and something else
I'd rather not recall just now.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
“I am in the middle of it: chaos and poetry; poetry and love and again, complete chaos. Pain, disorder, occasional clarity; and at the bottom of it all: only love; poetry. Sheer enchantment, fear, humiliation. It all comes with love”
― The Akhmatova Journals, Volume I: 1938-1941
― The Akhmatova Journals, Volume I: 1938-1941
“We learned not to meet anymore,
We don't raise our eyes to one another,
But we ourselves won't guarantee
What could happen to us in an hour.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
We don't raise our eyes to one another,
But we ourselves won't guarantee
What could happen to us in an hour.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
“Wild honey smells of freedom
The dust - of sunlight
The mouth of a young girl, like a violet
But gold - smells of nothing.”
― Selected Poems
The dust - of sunlight
The mouth of a young girl, like a violet
But gold - smells of nothing.”
― Selected Poems
“Though you are three times more beautiful than angels,
Though you are the sister of the river willows,
I will kill you with my singing,
Without spilling your blood on the ground.
Not touching you with my hand,
Not giving you one glance, I will stop loving you,
But with your unimaginable groans
I will finally slake my thirst.
From her, who wandered the earth before me,
Crueler than ice, more fiery than flame,
From her, who still exists in the ether—
From her you will set me free.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
Though you are the sister of the river willows,
I will kill you with my singing,
Without spilling your blood on the ground.
Not touching you with my hand,
Not giving you one glance, I will stop loving you,
But with your unimaginable groans
I will finally slake my thirst.
From her, who wandered the earth before me,
Crueler than ice, more fiery than flame,
From her, who still exists in the ether—
From her you will set me free.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
“This land, although not my native land,
Will be remembered forever.
And the sea's lightly iced,
Unsalty water.
The sand on the bottom is whiter than chalk,
The air is heady, like wine,
And the rosy body of the pines
Is naked in the sunset hour.
And the sunset itself on such waves of ether
That I just can't comprehend
Whether it is the end of the day, the end of the world,
Or the mystery of mysteries in me again.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
Will be remembered forever.
And the sea's lightly iced,
Unsalty water.
The sand on the bottom is whiter than chalk,
The air is heady, like wine,
And the rosy body of the pines
Is naked in the sunset hour.
And the sunset itself on such waves of ether
That I just can't comprehend
Whether it is the end of the day, the end of the world,
Or the mystery of mysteries in me again.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
“Today I have so much to do:
I must kill memory once and for all,
I must turn my soul to stone,
I must learn to live again--”
―
I must kill memory once and for all,
I must turn my soul to stone,
I must learn to live again--”
―
“And it seemed to me that there were fires
Flying till dawn without number
And I never found out things-those
Strange eyes of his-what colour?
Everything trembling and singing and
Were you my enemy or my friend,
Winter was it or summer?”
―
Flying till dawn without number
And I never found out things-those
Strange eyes of his-what colour?
Everything trembling and singing and
Were you my enemy or my friend,
Winter was it or summer?”
―
“That was when the ones who smiled
Were the dead, glad to be at rest.”
―
Were the dead, glad to be at rest.”
―
“A land not mine, still
forever memorable,
the waters of its ocean
chill and fresh.
Sand on the bottom whiter than chalk,
and the air drunk, like wine,
late sun lays bare
the rosy limbs of the pinetrees.
Sunset in the ethereal waves:
I cannot tell if the day
is ending, or the world, or if
the secret of secrets is inside me again.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
forever memorable,
the waters of its ocean
chill and fresh.
Sand on the bottom whiter than chalk,
and the air drunk, like wine,
late sun lays bare
the rosy limbs of the pinetrees.
Sunset in the ethereal waves:
I cannot tell if the day
is ending, or the world, or if
the secret of secrets is inside me again.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
“It was a time when only the dead smiled, happy in their peace.”
―
―
“The evening sky is gold and vast.
I’m soothed by April’s cool caress.
You’re late. Too many years have passed, -
I’m glad to see you, nonetheless.
Come closer, sit here by my side,
Be gentle with me, treat me kind:
This old blue notebook – look inside –
I wrote these poems as a child.
Forgive me that I felt forsaken,
That grief and angst was all I knew.
Forgive me that I kept mistaking
Too many other men for you.”
― White Flock
I’m soothed by April’s cool caress.
You’re late. Too many years have passed, -
I’m glad to see you, nonetheless.
Come closer, sit here by my side,
Be gentle with me, treat me kind:
This old blue notebook – look inside –
I wrote these poems as a child.
Forgive me that I felt forsaken,
That grief and angst was all I knew.
Forgive me that I kept mistaking
Too many other men for you.”
― White Flock
“Flowers, cold from the dew,
And autumn's approaching breath,
I pluck for the warm, luxuriant braids,
Which haven't faded yet.
In their nights, fragrantly resinous,
Entwined with delightful mystery,
They will breathe in her springlike
Extraordinary beauty.
But in a whirlwind of sound and fire,
From her shing head they will flutter
And falland before her
They will die, faintly fragrant still.
And, impelled by faithful longing,
My obedient gaze will feast upon them
With a reverent hand,
Love will gather their rotting remains.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
And autumn's approaching breath,
I pluck for the warm, luxuriant braids,
Which haven't faded yet.
In their nights, fragrantly resinous,
Entwined with delightful mystery,
They will breathe in her springlike
Extraordinary beauty.
But in a whirlwind of sound and fire,
From her shing head they will flutter
And falland before her
They will die, faintly fragrant still.
And, impelled by faithful longing,
My obedient gaze will feast upon them
With a reverent hand,
Love will gather their rotting remains.”
― The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
