He was young, anxious, jealous…
He was young, anxious, jealous.
His love was like the heat of the sun
but he killed my white bird
as he could not bear her singing of the past.
Sunset. Into the room he strides:
‘Love, laugh, write poetry!’ he orders me.
I buried the bird
by the well, near the alder tree.
I promised him I wouldn’t cry
but my heart set to a stone,
and now it seems that everywhere
I turn, I hear her sweet song.
1914
His love was like the heat of the sun
but he killed my white bird
as he could not bear her singing of the past.
Sunset. Into the room he strides:
‘Love, laugh, write poetry!’ he orders me.
I buried the bird
by the well, near the alder tree.
I promised him I wouldn’t cry
but my heart set to a stone,
and now it seems that everywhere
I turn, I hear her sweet song.
1914
poetrymagazines notes: Anna Akhmatova's Russian texts copyright © 2005 by Margarita Novgorodova. The rights are granted by FTM Agency, Ltd., Russia
Translated by Colette Bryce
Page(s) 16
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