Digenis.org

In an interesting post describing connections between Akhmatova, Pasternak, Mandelstam, and Tsvetaeva, Alexei mentions that, according to the Gregorian calendar, last Monday would have been Akhmatova’s birthday.

Even though it’s nearly a week past, I’d like to post one of my favorite Akhmatova poems in honor of her birthday:

???? ???? ?????? ?????,
?????? ???? ?? ?????
? ???? ???????? ? ????? ???,
???? ??????? ???????.
? ? ??? - ?? ???? ????,
?? ????? ? ?? ????,
? ? ?????? ? ? ???????,
??? ?????? ? ??????.
1940

If you want to read some more of her poetry, you can check out the following links:

“?? ??????? ????…” - The most comprehensive Akhmatova site I’ve found so far. It has practically all of her poetry and prose, her translations of other’s poetry (according to the site, she translated the works of over 150 poets from 78 languages), articles about her, links, and much more.

???? ????????? ???????? - This Russian site has four of her works available in PDF format, a few articles on Akhmatova by other writers (including Pasternak), and, best of all, many mp3’s of her poetry read by the Akhmatova herself.

Yevgeny Bonver’s English translations of Akhmatova’s poetry.

Also, while we’re on the topic of Akhmatova, I’ve come across an English translation of one of her poems but I can’t track down the original Russian version:

Seaside gusts of wind,
And a house in which we don’t live,
And the shadow of a cherished cedar
In front of a forbidden window…
Perhaps there is someone in this world
To whom I could send all these lines. Well then!
Let the lips smile bitterly
And a tremor touch the heart again.
1963

If anyone knows where to find it, please let me know.