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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
sad
3.5/5
Akhmatova is one of those names I was drawn to because I was told to do so, albeit in the passively enticing manner that repeated reverberations of a foreign name, especially intriguing with its feminine tinge, in reviews and other elitist material will accomplish. The good this edition did me, really, is that it surprisingly proved to be bilingual, and a good friend from Kyrgyzstan will benefit far more than I from the original verse. I wouldn't mind returning to Akhmatova one day, as the end notes talk about bigger and better things penned later in her career that are contained in full in other editions, but I may have to read up more on the other famous figures of her milieu (Bly's 'Petersburg', for one, for even a difference in ideology between him in Akhmatova doesn't prevent them from having known the same people and experienced the same Russian landscape) before I tackle that. As a first introduction, I wasn't majorly awed, but I found one sizable piece that has convinced me to leave the door open to future engagement. No [b:The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova|822115|The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova|Anna Akhmatova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389680513s/822115.jpg|165211] for me, though, surprisingly. As I said, I'm interested in the longer, more sinister works of the poet's later years, and there's no use re-experiencing what I know will fail to stir me.
I didn't think when I was growing up that, as an adult, I would spend so much time contemplating socialism and communism and what could have been had a revolution taken into account every other bigotry, or at least the patriarchy doomed to cannibalize its saints regardless of how it structured its economics. Akhmatova admittedly interests me for the pathos of it all, and as I continue to remain in monolingual ignorance (French may creep back up on me if the job security is tempting enough), I miss a great deal of what my Kyrgyzstani friend so adores in the original refrains of her poetry. As I said, though, the works grew stronger the later in the chronology I went, and I really wouldn't mind diving into a good edition of "A Poem without a Hero", pages upon pages of annotations and end notes and all. I'm not sure if such a thing even exists in English at the moment, but I have the time and the inclination, as well as this review to haggle me back into the fray once sufficient time has passed. There's something in Akhmatova's writing that I"m missing, so evidenced by lackluster rating, and unlike other spoofed up name drops, she's worth the effort of digging it out. At a later time, though. Who knows when I'll acquire that conjectured, well explicated edition, or if/when it will ever come into being.
I'm still not satisfied with my level of poetry evaluation, but one can only spend so much time in what amounts to be less than five percent of one's library. However, I am glad I got through this when I did, as my aforementioned friend has been on the lookout for Russian books of late, and my having come across one by mistake is better than nothing. Russian literature has always been a weirdly fascinating facet of my reading trajectory, and to fill it out further is always worth the effort, if not always eminently rewarding. As I said, I will return to Akhmatova at some point, better equipped and more intensely focused. For now, though, on with the future, and hopefully more fruitful, results.
Akhmatova is one of those names I was drawn to because I was told to do so, albeit in the passively enticing manner that repeated reverberations of a foreign name, especially intriguing with its feminine tinge, in reviews and other elitist material will accomplish. The good this edition did me, really, is that it surprisingly proved to be bilingual, and a good friend from Kyrgyzstan will benefit far more than I from the original verse. I wouldn't mind returning to Akhmatova one day, as the end notes talk about bigger and better things penned later in her career that are contained in full in other editions, but I may have to read up more on the other famous figures of her milieu (Bly's 'Petersburg', for one, for even a difference in ideology between him in Akhmatova doesn't prevent them from having known the same people and experienced the same Russian landscape) before I tackle that. As a first introduction, I wasn't majorly awed, but I found one sizable piece that has convinced me to leave the door open to future engagement. No [b:The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova|822115|The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova|Anna Akhmatova|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389680513s/822115.jpg|165211] for me, though, surprisingly. As I said, I'm interested in the longer, more sinister works of the poet's later years, and there's no use re-experiencing what I know will fail to stir me.
I didn't think when I was growing up that, as an adult, I would spend so much time contemplating socialism and communism and what could have been had a revolution taken into account every other bigotry, or at least the patriarchy doomed to cannibalize its saints regardless of how it structured its economics. Akhmatova admittedly interests me for the pathos of it all, and as I continue to remain in monolingual ignorance (French may creep back up on me if the job security is tempting enough), I miss a great deal of what my Kyrgyzstani friend so adores in the original refrains of her poetry. As I said, though, the works grew stronger the later in the chronology I went, and I really wouldn't mind diving into a good edition of "A Poem without a Hero", pages upon pages of annotations and end notes and all. I'm not sure if such a thing even exists in English at the moment, but I have the time and the inclination, as well as this review to haggle me back into the fray once sufficient time has passed. There's something in Akhmatova's writing that I"m missing, so evidenced by lackluster rating, and unlike other spoofed up name drops, she's worth the effort of digging it out. At a later time, though. Who knows when I'll acquire that conjectured, well explicated edition, or if/when it will ever come into being.
I'm still not satisfied with my level of poetry evaluation, but one can only spend so much time in what amounts to be less than five percent of one's library. However, I am glad I got through this when I did, as my aforementioned friend has been on the lookout for Russian books of late, and my having come across one by mistake is better than nothing. Russian literature has always been a weirdly fascinating facet of my reading trajectory, and to fill it out further is always worth the effort, if not always eminently rewarding. As I said, I will return to Akhmatova at some point, better equipped and more intensely focused. For now, though, on with the future, and hopefully more fruitful, results.
This cruel age has deflected me,
like a river from its course.
Strayed from its familiar shores,
my changeling life has flowed
into a sister channel.
How many spectacles I've missed:
the curtain rising without me,
and falling too. How many friends
I never had the chance to meet.
Here in the only city I can claim,
where I could sleepwalk and not lose my way,
how many foreign skylines I can dream,
not to be witnessed through my tears.
And how many verses I have failed to write!
Their secret chorus stalks me
close behind. One day, perhaps,
they'll strangle me.
I know beginnings, I know endings too,
and life-in-death, and something else
I'd rather not recall just now.
And a certain woman
has usurped my place
and bears my rightful name,
leaving a nickname for my use,
with which I've done the best I could.
The grave I go to will not be my own.
But if I could step outside myself
and contemplate the person that I am,
I should know at last what envy is.
-Leningrad, 1944
I haven't read any other translated versions, but I felt like some of these came off stilted and inane
emotional
fast-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
"Where nothing is needed, I walk like a child,
My shadow serves as the friend I crave.
The wind breezes out of a grove grown wild,
And my foot is on the edge of the grave."
From POEMS of Anna Akhmatova, translated from the Russian by Lyn Coffin
▪️Akhmatova's selected poems were stunning, as expected. There's a great introduction to them by Joseph Brodsky where he lavishes praise on her work, which is widely recognized as some of the best Russian poetry of the 20th century. Just over 130 pages, and I was noting poems left and right. If you haven't read any of her work yet, I highly recommend.
My shadow serves as the friend I crave.
The wind breezes out of a grove grown wild,
And my foot is on the edge of the grave."
From POEMS of Anna Akhmatova, translated from the Russian by Lyn Coffin
▪️Akhmatova's selected poems were stunning, as expected. There's a great introduction to them by Joseph Brodsky where he lavishes praise on her work, which is widely recognized as some of the best Russian poetry of the 20th century. Just over 130 pages, and I was noting poems left and right. If you haven't read any of her work yet, I highly recommend.
fast-paced