Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966)

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DEPARTURE

Although this land is not my own, 
I will remember its inland sea 
and the waters that are so cold 

the sand as white 
as old bones, the pine trees 
strangely red where the sun comes down. 

I cannot say if it is our love, 
or the day, that is ending. 

               (translated by Michael Cuanach)

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YOU WILL HEAR THUNDER

You will hear thunder and remember me, 
And think: she wanted storms. The rim 
Of the sky will be the colour of hard crimson, 
And your heart, as it was then, will be on fire. 

That day in Moscow, it will all come true, 
when, for the last time, I take my leave, 
And hasten to the heights that I have longed for, 
Leaving my shadow still to be with you.

               (translated by D. M. Thomas)

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I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE ALIVE OR DEAD

I don't know if you're alive or dead. 
Can you on earth be sought, 
Or only when the sunsets fade 
Be mourned serenely in my thought? 

All is for you: the daily prayer, 
The sleepless heat at night, 
And of my verses, the white 
Flock, and of my eyes, the blue fire. 

No-one was more cherished, no-one tortured 
Me more, not 
Even the one who betrayed me to torture, 
Not even the one who caressed me and forgot. 

               (translated by D. M. Thomas)

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YOU THOUGHT I WAS THAT TYPE

You thought I was that type:
that you could forget me,
and that I'd plead and weep and throw myself
under the hooves of a bay mare,

or that I'd ask the sorcerers 
for some magic potion made from roots
and send you a terrible gift:
my precious perfumed handkerchief.

Damn you! I will not grant
your cursed soul vicarious tears or a single glance.
And I swear to you by the garden of the angels,
I swear by the miracle-working ikon,
and by the fire and smoke of our nights:
I will never come back to you.

               (translated by Richard McKane)

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Revised: September 9, 1999