Section: «Poems»
Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings:
artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.);
a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").
Solitude
So many stones have been thrown at me,That I'm not frightened of them anymore,And the pit has become a solid tower,Tall among tall towers.I thank the..
© Anna Akhmatova
Why Is This Age Worse...?
Why is this age worse than earlier ages?In a stupor of grief and dreadhave we not fingered the foulest woundsand left them unhealed by our hands?In..
© Anna Akhmatova
How Can You Bear To Look At The Neva?
How can you bear to look at the Neva?How can you bear to cross the bridges?.Not in vain am I known as the grieving oneSince the time you appeared to..
© Anna Akhmatova
Memory Of Sun
Memory of sun seeps from the heart.Grass grows yellower.Faintly if at all the early snowflakesHover, hover.Water becoming ice is slowing inThe narrow..
© Anna Akhmatova
Twenty-First. Night. Monday
Twenty-first. Night. Monday.Silhouette of the capitol in darkness.Some good-for-nothing -- who knows why--made up the tale that love exists on..
© Anna Akhmatova
But Listen, I Am Warning You
But listen, I am warning youI'm living for the very last time.Not as a swallow, nor a maple,Not as a reed, nor as a star,Not as spring water,Nor as..
© Anna Akhmatova
Departure
Although this land is not my own,I will remember its inland seaand the waters that are so coldthe sand as whiteas old bones, the pine treesstrangely..
© Anna Akhmatova
And You, My Friends Who Have Been Called Away
And you, my friends who have been called away,I have been spared to mourn for you and weep,Not as a frozen willow over your memory,But to cry to the..
© Anna Akhmatova
I Wrung My Hands
I wrung my hands under my dark veil. . ."Why are you pale, what makes you reckless?"-- Because I have made my loved one drunkwith an astringent..
© Anna Akhmatova
Voronezh
For Osip MandelstamAnd the town is frozen solid in a vice,Trees, walls, snow, beneath a glass.Over crystal, on slippery tracks of ice,the painted..
© Anna Akhmatova
Crucifix
Do not cry for me, Mother, seeing me in the grave.IThis greatest hour was hallowed and thanderedBy angel's choirs; fire melted sky.He asked his..
© Anna Akhmatova
I Don'T Know If You'Re Alive Or Dead
I don't know if you're alive or dead.Can you on earth be sought,Or only when the sunsets fadeBe mourned serenely in my thought?All is for you: the..
© Anna Akhmatova
You Will Hear Thunder
You will hear thunder and remember me,And think: she wanted storms. The rimOf the sky will be the colour of hard crimson,And your heart, as it was..
© Anna Akhmatova
Celebrate
Celebrate our anniversary - can't you seetonight the snowy night of our first wintercomes back again in every road and tree -that winter night of..
© Anna Akhmatova
I Taught Myself To Live Simply
I taught myself to live simply and wisely,to look at the sky and pray to God,and to wander long before eveningto tire my superfluous worries.When the..
© Anna Akhmatova
Requiem
Not under foreign skiesNor under foreign wings protected -I shared all this with my own peopleThere, where misfortune had abandoned us.[1961]INSTEAD..
© Anna Akhmatova
Everything
Everything’s looted, betrayed and traded,black death’s wing’s overhead.Everything’s eaten by hunger, unsated,so why does a light shine ahead?By day..
© Anna Akhmatova
“Guardians of the Ice”
When ice retreats and seas grow warm,You face a changing, fragile form.Your ancient paths begin to fadeBy choices humans thoughtlessly made.So on..
© Penguin Day
“Black, White, and Brave”
Dressed in dusk and morning light,You face the cold with steady might.No roar, no claim of dominance,Just quiet, earned endurance.In every storm you..
© Penguin Day
“Flightless, Yet Free”
You cannot soar the open sky,Yet oceans hear your swift reply.In water deep, you dance and glide,A freedom waves can never hide.You prove that limits..
© Penguin Day
“Faithful Pair”
Across the ice, through endless years,You stand through hunger, storms, and fears.One waits while one must roam the sea,A vow of quiet loyalty.No..
© Penguin Day
“The Warmth of Huddle”
In frozen winds where breath turns white,You lean together through the night.No single heart can face the cold,But many hearts make courage bold.A..
© Penguin Day
“Waddle of the South”
In lands where silence meets the snow,You stand against the cutting blow.No wings to lift you from the ground,Yet in the sea, true flight is..
© Penguin Day
What's The Pope Do?
What's the pope do? Drinks, and takes a nap;looks out the window, has a bite to eat,fiddles with the housemaid's garter strap,and makes the town a..
© Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli
From Hand To Hand
The Pope, God's locum, Our Lord, is someone I'dLiken to an eternal Father, like Our Eternal Father.That is, he doesn't die, or, sure he dies, but..
© Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli