Anna Akhmatova - Post revolution

1920-30's  Post Revolution

The revolution impacted my life and all of Russia. Nothing was the same again. The bolsheviks wanted us to conform, they used properganda and they used force. Any activists were thrown in jail. or worse. I was told to write poetry about tractors! Poetry that would promote the communist regime and influence the people as I used to. I refused. I was then banned from writing but this did not stop me. These forces only made me more passionate about my writing. My husband was killed and my son sentenced to jail 'this woman is utterly alone, with husband dead, with son awyay in jail. Pray for me. Pray' Requiem 2. These sufferings I went through were shared by every person in Russia. 'Requiem' was born from this. It was a poem that all of Russia understood. 'I stand as witness to the common lot, survivor of that time, that place.' Requiem.

Anna Akhmatova: Early poetry

Many of my poems are of my lifes experiences and relationship with my husband at the time. 'Hands clasped under the dark veil' reflects the hardships I was going through with my husband '..I made him drink his fill of sorrows bitter tale.' This poem speaks clearly of how I, after Nikolay had almost left me, regretted speaking rashly toward him. The dark veil usually used for those in mourning, I used to represent my grief over our failing relationship. This experience was the inspiration of my poem 'Hands clasped under the dark veil'.