Akhmatova: Poems: Edited by Peter Washington (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series)

She is a good poet of amazing depth who lived an incredible life. Austere and hard while retaining a soft core. Coupling poetry and a brave life, she wrote poetry worth reading. And read her bio.One's never done with a book of poetry that strikes the heart. Akhmatova has done that since first I read her forty years ago.Her life, her suffering, her loves, her bravery, all flow into her poetry. I can't separate her life with the multiple sufferings under Stalin's regime, and her bravery in the face of it all.And I love her verse and am moved by it, although Iknow that I only share a small percentage of it's beauty because I don't read or speak Russian.One of my favorite's:Lot's Wifeby Anna Akhmatova Translated by Stanley KunitzAnd the just man trailed God's shining agent,over a black mountain, in his giant track,while a restless voice kept harrying his woman:"It's not too late, you can still look backat the red towers of your native Sodom,the square where once you sang, the spinning-shed,at the empty windows set in the tall housewhere sons and daughters blessed your marriage-bed."A single glance: a sudden dart of painstitching her eyes before she made a sound . . .Her body flaked into transparent salt,and her swift legs rooted to the ground.Who will grieve for this woman? Does she not seemtoo insignificant for our concern?Yet in my heart I never will deny her,who suffered death because she chose to turn.I wil continue to read her works.

This is a cop out review. I still don't know enough about poetry to give it a decent review. To do that I would need to put it in some kind of context but I'm such a beginner when it comes to poetry I can't just yet. Maybe later. But I do love the poems in this short volume. I found it because one of my favourite artists, the wonder singer Iris DeMent, just did an album based on her poetry called The Trackless Woods. (It is a stunning album but many have trouble with DeMent's voice. I love her voice.) Only one or two of the songs she does can be found in this book but that's okay. A bit of an unorthodox way to discover a poet but what does it really matter?

I grew up in Russia reading Akhmatova, Esenin and other great poets of the "Silver Period". To this day, Akhmatova is the poet I turn to when nostalgia hits. So when I wanted to introduce Russian poetry to my English-speaking husband, I bought this volume.I am giving this book only four stars because of the somewhat limited selection of the poems: some of her greatest (and best known in Russia) are missing. Kunitz really shines in being able to relay the mood and (surprisingly) the rythm of Akhmatova, even if the actual translatoin is not quite accurate. Overall, this is a great introduction to the poems of a truly talented poet. However, you will soon find yourself shopping for the complete works.

Will look for another translation.

Excellent selection of this fabulous poets poems. I generally prefer the Reeder translations over these.

It's poetry there is narration in both 1st 2nd and 3rd.

I don't remember how I found her, but this woman is wonderful. Deep, lyric and sometimes so funny. Google her to get a sample and I do believe you'll fall in love.

This is my latest addition to my Everyman's Library of Pocket Poets. I read it in one evening and loved this little book. The Everyman's volumes are very handsome and have a ribbon attached for marking a favorite page. At this point I have almost a dozen volumes.

What a brilliant auther . I've never heard of her before, she's good.

The translator D.M. Thomas studied Russian during National Service but is clearly not fluent in the language and has an inadequate understanding of Russian culture and the circumstances of Akhmatova's life. His versions look very well on the page and even sound convincing but they are not to be trusted. He presumably works from a literal translation and this leads to some ignorant and even illiterate results. To give one example ... Seaside Sonnet (page 163) reads:Everything here will outlive me,Even the houses of the stareAnd this air I breathe, the spring air,Ending its flight across the sea.What on earth does Thomas think 'the houses of the stare' means? I've no idea how it got past the editor, if indeed there was one. It should read 'the houses of the starlings'. This is a reference to the nest boxes that Russian country people erect on tall poles to encourage starlings, important birds for them as harbingers of summer. Thomas obviously has no knowledge of this and allows his nonsensical version to be published. Later in the same sonnet he has 'in the chalice of emerald'. This is a refers to the vase fountain at Tsarskoye Selo so the religious implication of 'chalice' is misleading. The next line 'Where it's leading I won't say' suggests that Akhmatova is withholding something, but she actually writes 'Leading I know not where' which is much more in the mood of the sonnet.Everyman's Library Pocket Poets are beautifully produced and a joy to hold but don't imagine that this particular edition brings you close to the spirit of Anna Akhmatova.

Beautiful....... Akhmatova, the poems.Even with the tragedies, (poems) give solace.Must must must read, atleast once in lifetime.Once you have read her poems, you will keep coming back to her.And the hardcover version looks beautiful.Was happy anyway to have this book in my reading, but hardcover, added to my joy.

The contents in the version shown are those from the brilliant bi-lingual version, which is not what you get.You get a mono-lingual version, admittedly a lovely small and beautifully-produced edition, but I was disappointed when I opened mine to find I already had that translation in the Folio Society’s edition. Never mind. It will make a lovely gift to someone else.

I have read about Anna Akhmatova and her tragic life, husband killed by Stalin and her incredible influence on the people of Russia. She was so popular that Stalin could not risk killing her, and the poetry really meant so much to the people. She ranks alongside Pushkin.