“I drink to our ruined house, to the dolor of my life, to our loneliness together; and to you I raise my glass, to lying lips that have betrayed us, to dead-cold pitiless eyes, and to the hard realities; that the world is brutal and coarse, that God, in fact, has not saved us.” SadnessColdDespairLonelyWineBetrayal Author:Anna Akhmatova
“I have ceased and desisted from smiling The frosty wind chills lips - say so long To one hope of which will be lesser, Instead there will be one more song. And this song, without my volition, I will give out for laughter and parable, For this that the silence of love Is to me simply unbearable.” LovePainPoetryLossSilenceColdRussian Author:Anna Akhmatova
“I am not one of those who left the land to the mercy of its enemies. Their flattery leaves me cold, my songs are not for them to praise.” SongLeftEnemyLandColdMercyPraiseFlatteryLeaving Me Book:Избранные Стихи Source: Избранные Стихи
“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
“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.” StillsHandsNightDiesFallSoundFireMysteryHavensFlowerColdBreathsRemainsLongingExtraordinaryWarmBreatheFaithfulAutumnDelightfulDewObedientFadedPluckRottingWhirlwindEntwinedBraidsExtraordinary Beauty Author:Anna Akhmatova
