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Anna Akhmatova

Anna Akhmatova Quotes

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Famous Anna Akhmatova Quotes

“The angel of God, having secretly Betrothed us one winter day, Watches over our carefree lives With fixed, darkening eyes Because of this we love the sky, Keen air, the fresh wind And the blackening branches Behind the iron fence. Because of this we love the stern Dark city with its many waterways. And we love our partings, And our brief meetings.”

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Book:The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
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“I dream less of him, dear God be gloried, Does not shimmer everywhere any more. Fog has fallen on the whitened road, Shadows run over water to the shore. And all day the ringing did not quiet Over the expanse of ploughed up soil, Here most powerfully from Jonah Distant Laurel belltowers do recoil. I am trimming on the lilac bushes Branches, that are now in full flower; Ramparts of the ancient fortifying Two old monks are slowly walking over. Dear world, understood and corporeal, For me, one unseeing, set alive. Heal this soul of mine, the King of Heaven, With the icy comfort of not love.”

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Author:Anna Akhmatova
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“Has my fate really been so altered, Or is this game truly truly over? Where are winters, when I fell asleep In the morning in the sixth hour? In a new way, severely and calmly, I now live on the wild shore. I can no longer pronounce The tender or idle word. I can't believe that Christmas-tide is coming. Touchingly green is this the steppe before The beaming sun. Like a warm Wave, licks the tender shore. When from happiness languid and tired I was, then of such quiet With trembling inexpressible I dreamed And this in my imagining I deemed The after-mortal wandering of the soul...”

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Author:Anna Akhmatova
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“Natural thunder heralds the wetness of fresh water high clouds to quench the thirst of fields gone dry and parched, a messenger of blessed rain, but this was as dry as hell must be. My distraught perception refused to believe it, because of the insane suddenness with which it sounded, swelled and hit, and how casually it came to murder my child.”

BelieveChildrenWaterNaturalGoneHellFieldsPerceptionRainMurderBlessedCloudsInsaneMy ChildrenDryThirstThunderMessengersQuenchFresh WaterDistraughtWetness
Author:Anna Akhmatova
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“Give me bitter years of sickness, Suffocation, insomnia, fever, Take my child and my lover, And my mysterious gift of song This I pray at your liturgy After so many tormented days, So that the stormcloud over darkened Russia Might become a cloud of glorious rays.”

GivingYearsChildrenMightSongPrayingLoversGive MeCloudsRussiaBitterMysteriousMy ChildrenGloriousSicknessRaysInsomniaI PrayFeverLiturgyMy Lover
Book:A stranger to heaven and earth: poems of Anna Akhmatova
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“During the terrible years of the Yekhov terror I spent seventeen months in the prison queues in Leningrad. One day someone ‘identified’ me. Then a woman with lips blue with cold who was standing behind me, and of course had never heard of my name, came out of the numbness which affected us all and whispered in my ear—(we all spoke in whispers there): ‘Could you describe this?’ I said, ‘I can!’ Then something resembling a smile slipped over what had once been her face.”

YearsSaidI CanFacesCoursesNamesBehindsHeardMonthsColdTerribleOne DayStandingEarsBluePrisonLipsTerrorSpokesAffectedSeventeenNumbnessQueuesLeningrad
Author:Anna Akhmatova
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“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.”

NeedsLongStillsSoulTodayTurnsHouseMemoriesTeachSummerStonesWindowHotPreparedManageBreastsSlaughterDesertedPremonitionCarnivalsHot SummerBright DaysNevermind
Author:Anna Akhmatova
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“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.”

IfsWorldStillsWaterSecretSunForeverAirLandMinesOceanLateWineLaysBottomWaveDrunkMemorableSandSunsetLimbsChillEtherealRosyChalk
Author:Anna Akhmatova
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“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.”

WorldEndsBodyWaterHoursForeverAirMysterySeaLandWineBottomWaveNakedRememberedSandNativeSunsetThe End Of The DayEnd Of The WorldRosyChalkNative Land
Author:Anna Akhmatova
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“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.”

GivingStillsHandsEarthBeautifulThreeBloodSingingAngelRiversIceFlamesTouchingThirstGlancesThree TimesLoving YouFieryUnimaginableSpillingStop Loving YouTouching You
Author:Anna Akhmatova
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“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 fall—and 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.”

StillsHandsNightDiesFallSoundFireMysteryHavensFlowerColdBreathsRemainsLongingExtraordinaryWarmBreatheFaithfulAutumnDelightfulDewObedientFadedPluckRottingWhirlwindEntwinedBraidsExtraordinary Beauty
Author:Anna Akhmatova
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