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Twenty Poems
Review
Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966) is one of the quartet of Russian poets of the Soviet period (the others being Mandelstam, Tsvetaeva, and Pasternak) whose poignant chronicle interweaving private and national grief has come to symbolize for many readers the bittersweet agony of life in twentieth-century Russia. Akhmatova's husband, the poet Gumilyov, was shot in 1921, and her son spent many years in a concentration camp. She herself was denounced in 1946 as "half-nun, half-whore." Although some of her most sensitive work, such as Requiem and Poem without a Hero, has not been published in the USSR, Akhmatova's reputation has been largely rehabilitated and at the recent Writers' Congress her work and place in Soviet literature received national recognition. There have been numerous Soviet editions of her work, several good collections in English, and many articles and books on her. The present collection brings together twenty poems, mostly from the 191020 period. These poems delicately express the feelings of love, longing, loneliness, and memory characteristic of her work as a whole. Jane Kenyon has sensibly chosen to attempt a fairly literal translation. The difficulty lies in trying to translate the apparently simple vocabulary and syntax into an English version that does not appear trite. Kenyon's renderings do much to capture this deceptive simplicity. The reader of Russian can compare the original text facing each translation. Unfortunately Kenyon's slim collection of only 20 poems is unlikely to find its deserved place in university libraries among larger published volumes. Pity. Smaller general libraries may want to start a collection of modern Russian poetry with this. In any event, lovers of poetry will probably be the main beneficiaries. -- From Independent Publisher
Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966) is one of the quartet of Russian poets of the Soviet period (the others being Mandelstam, Tsvetaeva, and Pasternak) whose poignant chronicle interweaving private and national grief has come to symbolize for many readers the bittersweet agony of life in twentieth-century Russia. Akhmatova's husband, the poet Gumilyov, was shot in 1921, and her son spent many years in a concentration camp. She herself was denounced in 1946 as "half-nun, half-whore." Although some of her most sensitive work, such as Requiem and Poem without a Hero, has not been published in the USSR, Akhmatova's reputation has been largely rehabilitated and at the recent Writers' Congress her work and place in Soviet literature received national recognition. There have been numerous Soviet editions of her work, several good collections in English, and many articles and books on her. The present collection brings together twenty poems, mostly from the 191020 period. These poems delicately express the feelings of love, longing, loneliness, and memory characteristic of her work as a whole. Jane Kenyon has sensibly chosen to attempt a fairly literal translation. The difficulty lies in trying to translate the apparently simple vocabulary and syntax into an English version that does not appear trite. Kenyon's renderings do much to capture this deceptive simplicity. The reader of Russian can compare the original text facing each translation. Unfortunately Kenyon's slim collection of only 20 poems is unlikely to find its deserved place in university libraries among larger published volumes. Pity. Smaller general libraries may want to start a collection of modern Russian poetry with this. In any event, lovers of poetry will probably be the main beneficiaries. -- From Independent Publisher
53 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1985
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About the author
Anna Akhmatova
429 books958 followersalso known as: Анна Ахматова
Personal themes characterize lyrical beauty of noted work of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, pseudonym of Anna Andreevna Gorenko; the Soviet government banned her books between 1946 and 1958.
People credit this modernist of the most acclaimed writers in the canon.
Her writing ranges from short lyrics to universalized, ingeniously structured cycles, such as Requiem (1935-40), her tragic masterpiece about the Stalinist terror. Her work addresses a variety of themes including time and memory, the fate of creative women, and the difficulties of living and writing in the shadow of Stalinism. She has been widely translated into many languages, and is one of the best-known Russian poets of 20th century.
In 1910, she married the poet, Nikolay Gumilyov, who very soon left her for lion hunting in Africa, the battlefields of World War I, and the society of Parisian grisettes. Her husband did not take her poems seriously, and was shocked when Alexander Blok declared to him that he preferred her poems to his. Their son, Lev, born in 1912, was to become a famous Neo-Eurasianist historian.
Nikolay Gumilyov was executed in 1921 for activities considered anti-Soviet; Akhmatova then married a prominent Assyriologist Vladimir Shilejko, and then an art scholar, Nikolay Punin, who died in the Stalinist Gulag camps. After that, she spurned several proposals from the married poet, Boris Pasternak.
After 1922, Akhmatova was condemned as a bourgeois element, and from 1925 to 1940, her poetry was banned from publication. She earned her living by translating Leopardi and publishing essays, including some brilliant essays on Pushkin, in scholarly periodicals. All of her friends either emigrated or were repressed.
Her son spent his youth in Stalinist gulags, and she even resorted to publishing several poems in praise of Stalin to secure his release. Their relations remained strained, however. Akhmatova died at the age of 76 in St. Peterburg. She was interred at Komarovo Cemetery.
There is a museum devoted to Akhmatova at the apartment where she lived with Nikolai Punin at the garden wing of the Fountain House (more properly known as the Sheremetev Palace) on the Fontanka Embankment, where Akhmatova lived from the mid 1920s until 1952.
Personal themes characterize lyrical beauty of noted work of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, pseudonym of Anna Andreevna Gorenko; the Soviet government banned her books between 1946 and 1958.
People credit this modernist of the most acclaimed writers in the canon.
Her writing ranges from short lyrics to universalized, ingeniously structured cycles, such as Requiem (1935-40), her tragic masterpiece about the Stalinist terror. Her work addresses a variety of themes including time and memory, the fate of creative women, and the difficulties of living and writing in the shadow of Stalinism. She has been widely translated into many languages, and is one of the best-known Russian poets of 20th century.
In 1910, she married the poet, Nikolay Gumilyov, who very soon left her for lion hunting in Africa, the battlefields of World War I, and the society of Parisian grisettes. Her husband did not take her poems seriously, and was shocked when Alexander Blok declared to him that he preferred her poems to his. Their son, Lev, born in 1912, was to become a famous Neo-Eurasianist historian.
Nikolay Gumilyov was executed in 1921 for activities considered anti-Soviet; Akhmatova then married a prominent Assyriologist Vladimir Shilejko, and then an art scholar, Nikolay Punin, who died in the Stalinist Gulag camps. After that, she spurned several proposals from the married poet, Boris Pasternak.
After 1922, Akhmatova was condemned as a bourgeois element, and from 1925 to 1940, her poetry was banned from publication. She earned her living by translating Leopardi and publishing essays, including some brilliant essays on Pushkin, in scholarly periodicals. All of her friends either emigrated or were repressed.
Her son spent his youth in Stalinist gulags, and she even resorted to publishing several poems in praise of Stalin to secure his release. Their relations remained strained, however. Akhmatova died at the age of 76 in St. Peterburg. She was interred at Komarovo Cemetery.
There is a museum devoted to Akhmatova at the apartment where she lived with Nikolai Punin at the garden wing of the Fountain House (more properly known as the Sheremetev Palace) on the Fontanka Embankment, where Akhmatova lived from the mid 1920s until 1952.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 23, 2015
The images are so strong "... but we have found out forever/ that blood only smells like blood." This free verse translation of rhymed and metered poems is wonderful, but I wonder what I am missing. It is tantalizing to have the original Russian version opposite the English translation. I look at those Cyrillic letters and wonder what music I am not hearing.
July 10, 2011
I had read Akhmatova's poetry in Dutch translation. Although liking her work I also struggled with the rhymed and metered poems.These free-verse translations by Jane Kenyon are absolutely beautiful.
November 17, 2007
Akhmatova's poetry thrives in this translation.
February 21, 2008
kenyon & dunham
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2010
Strong woman, with strong love
January 7, 2014
I am waffling between 4 and 5 stars... I found the imagery wonderful.
December 22, 2025
While I can’t comment on the fidelity of these translations, this was a lovely little read for the solstice. Poem 18 is my personal favorite due its simplicity, queerness, and the genuinely disquieting feeling it elicits:
“It is not with the lyre of someone in love
that I go seducing people.
The rattle of the leper
is what sings in my hands.”
“It is not with the lyre of someone in love
that I go seducing people.
The rattle of the leper
is what sings in my hands.”
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December 1, 2024“because the soul is free and does not know / the slow luxuries of sensual life.”
May 9, 2020
It is not with the lyre of someone in love
that I go seducing people
The rattle of the leper
is what sings in my hands.
While I prefer Kunitz' translations, some Akhmatova's always good for ya
that I go seducing people
The rattle of the leper
is what sings in my hands.
While I prefer Kunitz' translations, some Akhmatova's always good for ya
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews