Poems of Akhmatova

While reading Harrison Salisbury's :Nine Hundred Days" about the seige of Leningrad, I found myself longing to re-read some Russian lit after 35 years. Ahkmatova is as profound and powerful as ever, though still mournful and sad, trying to make sense of a world gone mad with killinmg, jailing and hatred. I read her in college with the hope the world would change, but alas, it has not and the siren song she sang in the 1800's holds the same grip in 2009.She reminds you of the fear and desolation lost love brings while at the same timem finds a glimmer of hope to destroy the hatred that has cost so many, many lives. Beautiful and powerful. Michelle Czerner, 2/2009

This is a excellent selection of poems by the great Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. The translations are by the noted Russian scholar Max Hayward and the noted American poet Stanley Kunitz. As a non-Russian speaker, I can't really judge the quality of translations but the end product is terrific. There are a number of wondeful short lyrics. The peak of this selection is a powerful version of the great Requiem, Akhmatova's memorial for the victims of Stalin's purges. A truly great poem.

I'm not a great poetry lover, but the simplicity and meaning of her poems is even enough to turn me on to poetry!!!! Her words reach my life experiences and touch my soul.

This is a marvelous book. It is extremely difficult to accurately capture the flavor of the original writing in translation, but Kunitz has done this and more - the English itself is poetry. The book is dual language, so readers of Russian can read the original next to the English. Both are excellent.The selection is fairly representative of Akhmatova's life work, with early poems from 1909, through her affair with the poet Blok in the teens, the Terror and War, to her deathbed in 1961. I particularly enjoyed the translation of the epic "Requiem". Without a doubt, this is the best English version I have ever read. My only complaint is its berevity - at 40 poems, it merely whets the readers appetite for more - a pity, given the outstanding nature of both poet and translator.For those who are not familiar with Anna Akhmatova, this is a gem. If you have read some of her work, this is a must-have volume. Enjoy!

This is the volume that introduced me to the works of Anna Akhmatova. After having read this in one evening, I could not sleep - I was so moved by her poetry. The translation must have captured her heart and soul because it certainly captured mine - it inspired me to get up in the middle of the night and draw pictures to go with what I had read. I understood at once the love the Russian people have for her. Since then, I have gobbled up everything translated into English that I can find, but I still think this little volume is the best of all and return to it again and again. Enjoy......