Anna Akhmatova: A True Poet

A detailed Summary of Anna Akhmatova: A True Poet

A great poet is much more than a lyrist or a verse writer, a great poet is a person of deep imaginitive and expressive capabilities with a special sensitivity to the world around them. Anna Akhmatova is a great poet. Even more specifically, Anna Akhmatova is a great poet of Russia. In the late 19th Century, Russia's Tsarist autocracy was under siege. Oppositional political parties were formed, in violation of the law. One of these parties was the "Social Democratic Party." Lenin was the leader of a faction of this group called the "Bolsheviks." The Bolsheviks were devoted to socialism and worked toward the goals of revolution and the overthrow of the Tsar. The Bolsheviks would eventually succeed. It was in the crossroad of these revolutionary events that Anna Akhmatova was born in 1889. She witnessed as a child the reign of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II.

Anna was interested in poetry early on in her life. She told her father of her ambitions, and he told her not to shame the family name by becoming a "decadent poetess." At age 6 he forced her to take a pen-name, and she chose the last name of her maternal Great Grandmother, Akhmatova. That same year, the Revolution of 1905 took place. Thousands marched to the Tsar's palace,

Rosary was published in 1904. The book was widley popular and critically successful. Rosary not only concentrated on love themes, but religious themes as well. The Russian Orthadox Church was very important to Anna and she held it dear to her heart. Because of the contrating themes of love and religion, years later the Soviets would call Anna "half nun, half whore." Although Anna's poetic career could not have been going better, her personal life was falling apart. Her marriage was on the brink of disaster. Nikolai was jealous of his wife's success and was unfaithful to her. That same year Rosary was published, World War 1 began. As a result, Anna's poetry would begin to take on bigger themes with the incorporation of the upheavals of Russian Society.

Anna Akhmatova is more than a poet, she was a news reporter, a history book, and a common person, a person who suffered the same as everyone else in Russia, a person who was there to record it and there to live it. The poetry of Akhmatova achieves the Acmeist ideal of "beautiful clarity." In her poems she uses everyday speech and simple language, and her poetry appealed to all elements of Russian society. Akhmatova's life spanned the time between the pre-Revolutionary and post-Stalin eras of Russian history. Despite terrible persecution and censorship by the State, her poetry gave voice to the Russian people when times of massive upheaval were prevalent in Russian society. She did so with verse that is original and memberable, a way that made a distinct impact. Akhmatova outlived her oppressers, and her life has become an symbol of truth and dignitiy.

The next of Anna's books of poetry was Plantain. Plaintain was published the same year the Civil War ended in 1921. By this time, Anna had divorced Nikolai but the two were still close friends and had been through a lot together. Also by then Lenin had taken power of Russia and began using fear tactics such as secret police. For Anna eyes, 1921 was the year she saw first hand, Russia's govt hit rock bottem. Anna's e

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Approximate Word count = 1366
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People