Hands under Akhmatov's black veil. Analysis of Akhmatova’s poem “Clenched her hands under a dark veil...
The history of Russian poetry cannot be imagined without the name of Anna Andreevna Akhmatova. She began her creative journey by joining the “Workshop of Poets” and then becoming an “Acmeist”.
Many critics immediately noted, perhaps, the main feature of her work. The first collections of this poet are almost exclusively love lyrics. It would seem that what new can be brought to this long-used topic? Nevertheless, Akhmatova managed to reveal it in a way that no one had done before. Only she managed to become the female voice of her time, a woman poet of universal significance. It was Akhmatova who, for the first time in Russian literature, showed in her work the universal lyrical character of a woman.
Also, Akhmatova’s love lyrics are distinguished by deep psychologism. Her poems were often compared to Russian psychological prose. She knew how to incredibly subtly notice the state of her lyrical heroes and express this through skillfully selected external details.
One of the most famous works related to love lyrics is the poem “Clenched my hands under a dark veil...”. It is included in the collection “Evening” (Akhmatova’s first collection) and was written in 1911. Here is a love drama between two people:
She clasped her hands under a dark veil...
“Why are you pale today?”
Because I am tartly sad
Got him drunk.
The image of a “dark veil” already sets the reader up for tragedy, especially in combination with the antithesis “pale.” Most likely, this is a symbol of death, but not the death of some person. Thanks to the further text, you can understand that this is the death of a relationship, the death of love.
But whose fault is it that feelings are broken? The heroine admits that it was she who “poisoned” her lover with “tart sadness.” It is very interesting that the heroine drinks sadness like wine (the original metaphor is “drunk with sadness”, the epithet “tart sadness”). And the hero gets drunk on her with bitterness and pain. “To get drunk” in the context of this poem means to cause a lot of suffering. Of course, the reader understands that it is the lyrical heroine who is to blame for what happened.
The following lines show the hero’s suffering, conveyed through the perception of the lyrical heroine herself:
How can I forget? He came out staggering
The mouth twisted painfully...
I ran after him to the gate.
The lyrical heroine notes that she will never be able to forget what her lover looked like at that moment. In the phrase “He went out staggering,” the motif of wine again echoes the motif of suffering.
It is important to notice how the hero behaves. He does not insult the woman who betrayed him, does not shout at her. His behavior conveys severe pain, from which “his mouth twisted painfully.” The hero silently leaves the room. And the lyrical heroine already managed to regret what she had done and rushed after her lover.
Akhmatova conveys her swiftness and impulse with just one detail. She ran down the stairs “without touching the railing.” And we understand that this woman is trying to catch up with her departing love, which she herself lost. Regretting her action, the heroine wants to return her beloved:
Smiled calmly and creepily
Of course, behind her scream lies severe emotional pain. And the heroine herself confirms this with the words “if you leave, I’ll die.” I think she doesn't mean physical death, but rather psychological and emotional death. This is a cry from the soul, a last attempt to stop what has already gone. How does the hero respond to this? His remark “Don’t stand in the wind” combined with a “calm and creepy” smile suggests that you can’t get your lover back. Everything is lost. The hero’s indifferently caring phrase says that feelings are lost forever. The heroes are no longer family, but casual acquaintances. This gives the poem a genuine tragedy.
This poem is plot-driven and lyrical at the same time: it is filled with action, both physical and mental. The heroine’s swift actions help convey the flurry of feelings in her soul and in the hero’s soul: he came out staggering; the mouth twisted; ran away without touching the railing; ran to the gate; gasping for breath, she screamed; smiled calmly and creepily.
The direct speech of the characters is introduced into the poem. This was done in order to more visibly convey the tragedy of two people losing love, to bring the characters closer to the reader, and also to enhance the confessional nature of the poem and its sincerity.
Akhmatova’s skillfully used means of artistic expression help her convey all the intensity of feelings, all the emotional pain and experiences. The poem is filled with psychological, emotional epithets (tart sadness, twisted painfully, smiled calmly and terribly); metaphors (sadness made me drunk). There are antitheses in the work: the dark one - pale, gasping, screamed - smiled calmly and creepily.
The poem has a traditional cross rhyme, as well as a traditional strophic division - into three quatrains.
She clasped her hands under a dark veil...
“Why are you pale today? ”
Got him drunk.
How can I forget? He came out staggering.
The mouth twisted painfully...
I ran away without touching the railing,
I ran after him to the gate.
Gasping for breath, I shouted: “It’s a joke.
All that has gone before. If you leave, I’ll die.”
Smiled calmly and creepily
And he told me: “Don’t stand in the wind.”
January 8, 1911 Kyiv.
This poem, which is truly a masterpiece of Akhmatova’s work, evokes a complex range of feelings in me and I want to read it again and again. Of course, all her poems are beautiful, but this is my favorite.
In Anna Andreevna’s artistic system, a skillfully chosen detail, a sign of the external environment, is always filled with great psychological content. Through a person’s external behavior and his gesture, Akhmatova reveals the mental state of her hero.
One of the clearest examples is this short poem. It was written in 1911 in Kyiv.
Here we are talking about a quarrel between lovers. The poem is divided into two unequal parts. The first part (first stanza) is a dramatic beginning, introduction to action (question: “Why are you pale today?”). Everything that follows is an answer, in the form of a passionate, ever-accelerating story, which, having reached its highest point (“If you leave, I’ll die”), is abruptly interrupted by a deliberately everyday, offensively prosaic remark: “Don’t stand in the wind.”
The confused state of the heroes of this little drama is conveyed not by a lengthy explanation, but by the expressive details of their behavior: “came out, staggering,” “mouth twisted,” “ran away without touching the railing” (conveys the speed of desperate running), “screamed, gasping,” “smiled.” calm down" and so on.
The drama of the situations is concisely and precisely expressed in contrast to the ardent impulse of the soul of a deliberately everyday, insultingly calm answer.
To depict all this in prose would probably take a whole page. And the poet managed with only twelve lines, conveying in them the full depth of the characters’ experiences.
Let us note in passing: the strength of poetry is brevity, the greatest economy of expressive means. To say a lot about a little is one of the testaments of true art. And Akhmatova learned this from our classics, primarily from Pushkin, Baratynsky, Tyutchev, as well as from her contemporary, fellow Tsarskoe Selo resident Innokenty Annensky, a great master of natural speech information and aphoristic verse.
Returning to the poem we read, we can notice another feature of it. It is full of movement, in which events continuously follow one another. These twelve short lines can easily even turn into a movie script if you break them down into frames. It would go something like this. Introduction: question and short answer. 1 part. He. 1. Came out staggering. 2. His bitter smile (close-up). Part 2. She. 1. Runs up the stairs, “without touching the railing.” 2. He catches up with him at the gate. 3. Her despair. 4. Her last cry. Part 3. He. 1. Smile (calm). 2. A sharp and offensive answer.
The result is an expressive psychological film study in which the internal drama is conveyed through purely visual images.
This excellent poem deserves the highest appreciation from the reader.
Analysis and interpretation of A. Akhmatova’s poem “Clenched her hands under a dark veil...”
- What emotions did reading the poem evoke in you? What feelings and mood is it imbued with?
- What questions did you have when reading the poem that remained unclear?
Note: in a class familiar with this type of activity, students, as a rule, identify the entire range of issues related to the analysis and interpretation of the work.
The following is a sample diagram of questions that students can identify.
- Why does the heroine run only to the gate, what features of the artistic space can be identified?
- How do past and present tenses relate in the poem? What time are we talking about anyway?
-Whose person is the poem speaking from? What is this dialogue between the lyrical heroine and the lyrical hero or the monologue of the heroine?
- What is the theme of this poem?
- What is the main event of the verse.
“She clenched her hands under a dark veil...” Anna Akhmatova
poetry Clasped her hands under a dark veil...
“Why are you pale today?”
- Because I have tart sadness
Got him drunk.
How can I forget? He came out staggering
The mouth twisted painfully...
I ran away without touching the railing,
I ran after him to the gate.
Gasping for breath, I shouted: “It’s a joke.
All that has gone before. If you leave, I will die."
Smiled calmly and creepily
And he told me: “Don’t stand in the wind.”
Analysis of Akhmatova’s poem “Clenched her hands under a dark veil...”
Anna Akhmatova is one of the few representatives of Russian literature who gave the world such a concept as women's love lyrics, proving that representatives of the fairer sex can not only experience strong feelings, but also figuratively express them on paper.
The poem “Clenched her hands under a dark veil...”, written in 1911, dates back to the early period of the poetess’s work. This is a magnificent example of intimate female lyricism, which still remains a mystery to literary scholars. The thing is that this work appeared a year after the marriage of Anna Akhmatova and Nikolai Gumilev, but it is not a dedication to her husband. However, the name of the mysterious stranger, to whom the poetess dedicated many poems filled with sadness, love and even despair, remained a mystery. People around Anna Akhmatova claimed that she never loved Nikolai Gumilyov and married him only out of compassion, fearing that sooner or later he would carry out his threat and commit suicide. Meanwhile, throughout their short and unhappy marriage, Akhmatova remained a faithful and devoted wife, did not have affairs on the side and was very reserved towards admirers of her work. So who is the mysterious stranger to whom the poem “Clenched her hands under a dark veil...” was addressed? Most likely, it simply did not exist in nature. A rich imagination, an unspent feeling of love and an undoubted poetic gift became the driving force that forced Anna Akhmatova to invent a mysterious stranger for herself, endow him with certain traits and make him the hero of her works.
The poem “Clenched my hands under a dark veil...” is dedicated to a quarrel between lovers. Moreover, acutely hating all the everyday aspects of people’s relationships, Anna Akhmatova deliberately omitted her reason, which, knowing the bright temperament of the poetess, could be the most banal. The picture that Anna Akhmatova paints in her poem tells about the last moments of a quarrel, when all the accusations have already been made, and resentment fills two close people to the brim. The first line of the poem indicates that its heroine is very acutely and painfully experiencing what happened, she is pale and clasped her hands under the veil. When asked what happened, the woman replies that she “made him drunk with tart sadness.” This means that she admits that she was wrong and repents of those words that caused so much grief and pain to her lover. But, understanding this, she also realizes that to do otherwise means to betray herself, allowing someone else to control her thoughts, desires and actions.
This quarrel made an equally painful impression on the main character of the poem, who “came out staggering, his mouth twisted painfully.” One can only guess what feelings he is experiencing, since Anna Akhmatova clearly adheres to the rule that she writes about women and for women. Therefore, the lines addressed to the opposite sex, with the help of careless strokes, recreate the portrait of the hero, showing his mental turmoil. The ending of the poem is tragic and filled with bitterness. The heroine tries to stop her lover, but in response she hears a meaningless and rather banal phrase: “Don’t stand in the wind.” In any other situation, it could be interpreted as a sign of concern. However, after a quarrel, it means only one thing - reluctance to see the one who is capable of causing such pain.
Anna Akhmatova deliberately avoids talking about whether reconciliation is even possible in such a situation. She breaks off her narrative, giving readers the opportunity to figure out for themselves how events developed further. And this technique of understatement makes the perception of the poem more acute, forcing us to return again and again to the fate of the two heroes who broke up due to an absurd quarrel.
Poem by A.A. Akhmatova “Clenched her hands under a dark veil...”(perception, interpretation, evaluation)
Analysis of the poem
1. The history of the creation of the work.
2. Characteristics of a work of the lyrical genre (type of lyrics, artistic method, genre).
3. Analysis of the content of the work (analysis of the plot, characteristics of the lyrical hero, motives and tonality).
4. Features of the composition of the work.
5. Analysis of means of artistic expression and versification (presence of tropes and stylistic figures, rhythm, meter, rhyme, stanza).
6. The meaning of the poem for the poet’s entire work.
The poem “Clenched her hands under a dark veil...” refers to the early work of A.A. Akhmatova. It was written in 1911 and was included in the collection “Evening”. The work relates to intimate lyrics. Its main theme is love, the feelings experienced by the heroine when parting with a person dear to her.
The poem opens with a characteristic detail, a certain gesture of the lyrical heroine: “She clenched her hands under a dark veil.” This image of the “dark veil” sets the tone for the entire poem. Akhmatova’s plot is given only in its infancy, it is incomplete, we do not know the history of the relationships between the characters, the reason for their quarrel, separation. The heroine speaks about this in half-hints, metaphorically. This entire love story is hidden from the reader, just as the heroine is hidden under a “dark veil.” At the same time, her characteristic gesture (“She clenched her hands…”) conveys the depth of her experiences and the severity of her feelings. Also here we can note Akhmatova’s peculiar psychologism: her feelings are revealed through gestures, behavior, and facial expressions. Dialogue plays a big role in the first stanza. This is a conversation with an invisible interlocutor, as researchers note, probably with the heroine’s own conscience. The answer to the question “Why are you pale today” is a story about the heroine’s last date with her loved one. Here Akhmatova uses a romantic metaphor: “I made him drunk with tart sadness.” The dialogue here increases the psychological tension.
In general, the motif of love as a deadly poison is found in many poets. Thus, in the poem “Cup” by V. Bryusov we read:
Again the same cup with black moisture
Once again a cup of fire moisture!
Love, an undefeatable enemy,
I recognize your black cup
And the sword raised above me.
Oh, let me fall with my lips to the edge
Glasses of mortal wine!
N. Gumilyov has a poem “Poisoned”. However, the motive of poisoning there unfolds literally in the plot: the hero was given poison by his beloved. Researchers have noted the textual overlap between the poems of Gumilyov and Akhmatova. So, from Gumilyov we read:
You are completely, you are completely snowy,
How strangely and terribly pale you are!
Why are you shaking when you serve?
Should I have a glass of golden wine?
The situation is depicted here in a romantic way: Gumilyov’s hero is noble, in the face of death he forgives his beloved, rising above the plot and life itself:
I'll go far, far away,
I won't be sad and angry.
To me from heaven, cool heaven
White reflections of the day are visible...
And it’s sweet to me - don’t cry, dear, -
To know that you poisoned me.
Akhmatova’s poem also ends with the words of the hero, but the situation here is realistic, the feelings are more intense and dramatic, despite the fact that the poisoning here is a metaphor.
The second stanza conveys the hero's feelings. They are also indicated through behavior, movements, facial expressions: “He came out staggering, His mouth twisted painfully...”. At the same time, the feelings in the heroine’s soul acquire a special intensity:
I ran away without touching the railing,
I ran after him to the gate.
This repetition of the verb (“ran away”, “ran away”) conveys the sincere and deep suffering of the heroine, her despair. Love is her only meaning of life, but at the same time it is a tragedy, full of insoluble contradictions. “Without touching the railing” - this expression emphasizes swiftness, recklessness, impulsiveness, and lack of caution. Akhmatova’s heroine does not think about herself at this moment; she is overwhelmed by acute pity for the one whom she unwittingly made to suffer.
The third stanza is a kind of culmination. The heroine seems to understand what she can lose. She sincerely believes in what she says. Here again the swiftness of her running and the intensity of her feelings are emphasized. The theme of love is coupled here with the motive of death:
Gasping for breath, I shouted: “It’s a joke.
All that has gone before. If you leave, I’ll die.”
The ending of the poem is unexpected. The hero no longer believes his beloved, he will not return to her. He tries to maintain external calm, but at the same time he still loves her, she is still dear to him:
Smiled calmly and creepily
And he told me: “Don’t stand in the wind.”
Akhmatova uses an oxymoron here: “He smiled calmly and creepily.” Feelings are again conveyed through facial expressions.
The composition is based on the principle of gradual development of the theme, plot, with a climax and denouement in the third quatrain. At the same time, each stanza is built on a certain antithesis: two loving people cannot find happiness, the desired harmony of relationships. The poem is written in three-foot anapest, quatrains, and cross rhymes. Akhmatova uses modest means of artistic expression: metaphor and epithet (“I made him drunk with tart sadness”), alliteration (“My mouth twisted painfully... I ran away from the railing without touching, I ran after him to the gate”), assonance (“Gasping, I shouted: "A joke That's all that happened. If you leave, I'll die").
Thus, the poem reflects the characteristic features of Akhmatova’s early work. The main idea of the poem is the tragic, fatal disunity of loved ones, the impossibility of them gaining understanding and sympathy.
Stylistic analysis of the poem by A. Akhmatova
"I clenched my hands under a dark veil..."
Anna Akhmatova is a subtle lyricist, capable of penetrating into the very heart, touching the innermost corners of the soul, evoking emotions - familiar, painful, tearing to pieces.
Her love lyrics evoke a range of complex feelings, as they convey the strongest emotions at fateful moments in life. A striking example of such an experience is the poem “I clenched my hands under a dark veil...”. This work is about a painful quarrel between two lovers, and judging by the intensity of passions, perhaps about separation...
A.A. Akhmatova is interested in the most dramatic moments in the development of the relationships of her characters. The poem does not describe the quarrel itself, but its consequences. When with your mind you begin to understand all the absurdity of what you have done, all the stupidity of the words spoken in the heat of the moment. And then with all the cells of your body you feel emptiness and growing despair.
The poem can be roughly divided into two unequal parts. The first part, as it were, introduces us to the action with the question: “Why are you pale today?” Everything that follows is an answer, in the form of a rapid, ever-accelerating story, which, having reached its highest point (“If you leave, I will die”), is abruptly interrupted by the phrase of the departing lover: “Don’t stand in the wind.”
The mood of the poem is contained in the expression “ tart sadness." It was as if our heroine had drunkenly drunk her beloved with the “tart” wine of harsh phrases.
In the first line you can see first gesture despair (“she clenched her hands”). She clenched her hands, that is, an attempt to calm down, “gather all her strength into a fist,” to hold back her emotions, at the same time this is a gesture of unbearable pain, which she is trying to pacify, but in vain. “Dark veil” - as a symbol of mourning. “Veil” is like something feminine and light. That is, this detail immediately brings to mind the grief that happened earlier. The image of the “dark veil” seems to cast a shadow of mystery over the entire subsequent plot. The first stanza is built on dialogue. Who the lyrical heroine is franking with also remains a mystery.
The second stanza continues the line of “gestures of despair”. The hero, intoxicated with “tart sadness,” “went out , staggering" The verb “stagger” itself carries the meaning of some kind of disorientation, loss of balance, loss of oneself. It is obvious that he is so amazed by what happened (we do not fully know what his beloved said to him), that even “ grimaced painfully mouth". This is a grimace of horror, unbearable pain... tearing, cutting, destroying pain. (third “gesture of despair”).
Lines 7 and 8 in the poem are the most rapid, you can feel movement in them. Akhmatova conveys the speed of desperate running with the line “I ran away without touching the railing.” And anaphora, as it were, intensifies and intensifies this state. Conveys haste and crazy excitement of speech, confusion.
In the last stanza, the main motive of Akhmatova’s love lyrics “love or death” is revealed. Love is the whole meaning of earthly existence, without it there is only death (“You will leave. I will die”). The departure of her lover plunges the heroine into despair. And it is not clear whether she is suffocating from running, or from the inability to live without her loved one. Mental illness brings physical suffering to the characters and carries real pain. The very structure of the poem organically conveys this. When reading the words of the heroine in the center of the phrase, a pause inevitably occurs, as if her breath is being taken away from grief and despair, from the inability to hold Him.
The oxymoron in the hero’s smile (“calm and creepy”) tells us about the confusion and contradictory nature of his feelings, which are about to be torn apart. The calmness in such a situation is truly eerie. You can understand the tears, hysterics, screams. Calmness here most likely expresses some kind of dull despair that has struck the hero. No, he does not realize what happened, he still does not fully understand that he has lost his beloved. This is proven by his phrase, striking with care, tenderness, trepidation: “Don’t stand in the wind!” In my opinion, this phrase sounds like a farewell: “I’m leaving, and you take care of yourself...”
The pathos of the poem is tragic. It unfolds the tragedy of great love, destroyed by an everyday quarrel, but still burning. The flame of feelings seems to burn the characters from the inside, causing hellish pain. Isn't this drama? Isn't this a tragedy?
Rhythmic-melodic analysis:
1. _ _ ? / _ _ ? / _ _ ? / _ A
2. _ _ ? / _ _? / _ _ ?/ b
3. _ _ ? / _ _ ? / _ _ ? /_a
4. _ _ ? / _ _ ? / _ _ ? /b
3-foot anapest
5. _ _ ? / _ _ ? / _ _ ? /_a
6. _ _ ? / _ _? / _ _ ?/ b
7. _ _ ? / _ _ ? / _ _ ? /_a
8. _ _ ? / _ _ ? / _ _ ? /b
Cross rhyme
9. _ _ ? / _ _ ? / _ _ ? /_a
10. _ _ ? / _ _? / _ _ ?/ b
eleven. _ _ ? / _ _ ? / _ _ ? /_a
“She clenched her hands under a dark veil...” Anna Akhmatova
poetry Clasped her hands under a dark veil...
“Why are you pale today?”
- Because I am tartly sad
Got him drunk.How can I forget? He came out staggering
The mouth twisted painfully...
I ran away without touching the railing,
I ran after him to the gate.Gasping for breath, I shouted: “It’s a joke.
All that has gone before. If you leave, I will die."
Smiled calmly and creepily
And he told me: “Don’t stand in the wind.”
Analysis of Akhmatova’s poem “Clenched her hands under a dark veil...”
Anna Akhmatova is one of the few representatives of Russian literature who gave the world such a concept as women's love lyrics, proving that representatives of the fairer sex can not only experience strong feelings, but also figuratively express them on paper.
The poem “Clenched her hands under a dark veil...”, written in 1911, dates back to the early period of the poetess’s work. This is a magnificent example of intimate female lyricism, which still remains a mystery to literary scholars. The thing is that this work appeared a year after the marriage of Anna Akhmatova and Nikolai Gumilev, but it is not a dedication to her husband. However, the name of the mysterious stranger, to whom the poetess dedicated many poems filled with sadness, love and even despair, remained a mystery. People around Anna Akhmatova claimed that she never loved Nikolai Gumilyov and married him only out of compassion, fearing that sooner or later he would carry out his threat and commit suicide. Meanwhile, throughout their short and unhappy marriage, Akhmatova remained a faithful and devoted wife, did not have affairs on the side and was very reserved towards admirers of her work. So who is the mysterious stranger to whom the poem “Clenched her hands under a dark veil...” was addressed? Most likely, it simply did not exist in nature. A rich imagination, an unspent feeling of love and an undoubted poetic gift became the driving force that forced Anna Akhmatova to invent a mysterious stranger for herself, endow him with certain traits and make him the hero of her works.
The poem “Clenched my hands under a dark veil...” is dedicated to a quarrel between lovers. Moreover, acutely hating all the everyday aspects of people’s relationships, Anna Akhmatova deliberately omitted her reason, which, knowing the bright temperament of the poetess, could be the most banal. The picture that Anna Akhmatova paints in her poem tells about the last moments of a quarrel, when all the accusations have already been made, and resentment fills two close people to the brim. The first line of the poem indicates that its heroine is very acutely and painfully experiencing what happened, she is pale and clasped her hands under the veil. When asked what happened, the woman replies that she “made him drunk with tart sadness.” This means that she admits that she was wrong and repents of those words that caused so much grief and pain to her lover. But, understanding this, she also realizes that to do otherwise means to betray herself, allowing someone else to control her thoughts, desires and actions.
This quarrel made an equally painful impression on the main character of the poem, who “came out staggering, his mouth twisted painfully.” One can only guess what feelings he is experiencing, since Anna Akhmatova clearly adheres to the rule that she writes about women and for women. Therefore, the lines addressed to the opposite sex, with the help of careless strokes, recreate the portrait of the hero, showing his mental turmoil. The ending of the poem is tragic and filled with bitterness. The heroine tries to stop her lover, but in response she hears a meaningless and rather banal phrase: “Don’t stand in the wind.” In any other situation, it could be interpreted as a sign of concern. However, after a quarrel, it means only one thing - reluctance to see the one who is capable of causing such pain.
Anna Akhmatova deliberately avoids talking about whether reconciliation is even possible in such a situation. She breaks off her narrative, giving readers the opportunity to figure out for themselves how events developed further. And this technique of understatement makes the perception of the poem more acute, forcing us to return again and again to the fate of the two heroes who broke up due to an absurd quarrel.
Each verse of Anna Andreevna Akhmatova touches the finest strings of the human soul, although the author does not use many means of expressiveness and figures of speech. “Clenched her hands under a dark veil” proves that the poetess could talk about complex things in fairly simple words, accessible to everyone. She sincerely believed that the simpler the language material, the more sensual, vibrant, emotional and life-like her poems became. Judge for yourself...
Features of Akhmatova's lyrics. Thematic groups
A. A. Akhmatova proudly called herself a poet; she did not like it when the name “poetess” was applied to her; it seemed to her that this word belittled her dignity. And indeed, her works stand on a par with the works of such grandiose authors as Pushkin, Lermontov, Tyutchev, Blok. As an Acmeist poet, A. A. Akhmatova paid great attention to word and image. Her poetry had few symbols, few figurative means. It’s just that every verb and every definition was selected with special care. Although, of course, Anna Akhmatova paid great attention to women's issues, that is, topics such as love, marriage. There were many poems dedicated to her fellow poets and the topic of creativity. Akhmatova also created several poems about the war. But, of course, the bulk of her poems are about love.
Akhmatova’s poems about love: features of the interpretation of feelings
In almost no poem by Anna Andreevna, love was described as a happy feeling. Yes, she is always strong, bright, but fatal. Moreover, the tragic outcome of events can be dictated by various reasons: inconsistency, jealousy, betrayal, indifference of a partner. Akhmatova spoke about love simply, but at the same time solemnly, without diminishing the importance of this feeling for any person. Often her poems are eventful, in them one can distinguish a unique analysis of the poem “Clenched her hands under a dark veil” confirms this idea.
The masterpiece called “The Gray-Eyed King” can also be classified as love poetry. Here Anna Andreevna talks about adultery. The gray-eyed king - the beloved of the lyrical heroine - dies by accident while hunting. But the poetess slightly hints that the husband of this very heroine had a hand in this death. And the ending of the poem sounds so beautiful, in which a woman looks into the eyes of her daughter, the colors... It would seem that Anna Akhmatova managed to elevate a banal betrayal to a deep poetic feeling.
A classic case of misalliance is depicted by Akhmatov in the poem “You are my letter, dear, don’t crumple.” The heroes of this work are not allowed to be together. After all, she always has to be nothing to him, just a stranger.
“Clenched hands under a dark veil”: theme and idea of the poem
In a broad sense, the theme of the poem is love. But, to be more specific, we are talking about separation. The idea of the poem is that lovers often do things rashly and without thinking, and then regret it. Akhmatova also says that loved ones sometimes show apparent indifference, while in their souls there is a real storm.
Lyrical plot
The poetess depicts the moment of parting. The heroine, having shouted unnecessary and offensive words to her lover, hurries up the steps after him, but, having caught up, she can no longer stop him.
Characteristics of lyrical heroes
Without characterizing the lyrical hero, it is impossible to make a full analysis of the poem. “Clenched Hands Under a Dark Veil” is a work in which two characters appear: a man and a woman. She said stupid things in the heat of the moment and gave him “tart sadness.” He - with visible indifference - tells her: “Don’t stand in the wind.” Akhmatova does not give any other characteristics to her heroes. Their actions and gestures do this for her. This is a characteristic feature of all Akhmatova’s poetry: not to talk about feelings directly, but to use associations. How does the heroine behave? She clasps her hands under the veil, she runs so that she does not touch the railing, which indicates the greatest tension of mental strength. She doesn't speak, she screams, gasping for breath. And there seems to be no emotion on his face, but his mouth is twisted “painfully,” which indicates that the lyrical hero cares, his indifference and calmness are ostentatious. Suffice it to recall the verse “Song of the Last Meeting”, which also says nothing about feelings, but a seemingly ordinary gesture betrays inner excitement, the deepest experience: the heroine puts a glove on her left hand on her right hand.
An analysis of the poem “Clenched her hands under a dark veil” shows that Akhmatova constructs her poems about love as a lyrical monologue in the first person. Therefore, many mistakenly begin to identify the heroine with the poetess herself. This is not worth doing. Thanks to the first-person narration, the poems become more emotional, confessional and believable. In addition, Anna Akhmatova often uses direct speech as a means of characterizing her characters, which also adds liveliness to her poems.
Anna Andreevna Akhmatova
Clasped her hands under a dark veil
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From the book EVENING
La fleur des vignes pousse
Et j'ai vingt ans ce soir.
André Theuriet
Then like a snake, curled up in a ball,
He casts a spell right at the heart,
That's all day long like a dove
Coos on the white window,
It will shine in the bright frost,
It will seem like a lefty in the slumber...
But it leads faithfully and secretly
From joy and from peace.
He can cry so sweetly
In the prayer of a yearning violin,
And it’s scary to guess it
In a still unfamiliar smile.
Tsarskoe Selo
"And the boy who plays the bagpipes..."
And the boy who plays the bagpipes
And the girl who weaves her own wreath,
And two crossed paths in the forest,
And in the far field there is a distant light, -
I see everything. I remember everything
I cherish it lovingly and meekly in my heart.
There's only one thing I never know
And I can’t even remember anymore.
I'm not asking for wisdom or strength.
Oh, just let me warm myself by the fire!
I'm cold... Winged or wingless,
The merry god will not visit me.
"Love conquers deceitfully..."
Love conquers deceitfully
In a simple, unsophisticated chant.
So recently, it’s strange
You weren't gray and sad.
And when she smiled
In your gardens, in your house, in your field,
Everywhere it seemed to you
That you are free and at liberty.
You were bright, taken by her
And drank her poison.
After all, the stars were larger
After all, the herbs smelled different,
Autumn herbs.
Autumn 1911
“I clenched my hands under a dark veil...”
She clasped her hands under a dark veil...
“Why are you pale today?”
- Because I am tartly sad
Got him drunk.
How can I forget? He came out staggering
The mouth twisted painfully...
I ran away without touching the railing,
I ran after him to the gate.
Gasping for breath, I shouted: “It’s a joke.
All that has gone before. If you leave, I’ll die.”
Smiled calmly and creepily
And he told me: “Don’t stand in the wind.”
Kyiv
“The memory of the sun in the heart is weakening...”
The grass is yellower.
The wind blows early snowflakes
Just barely.
It no longer flows in narrow channels -
The water is getting cold.
Nothing will ever happen here -
Oh, never!
The willow spread out in the empty sky
The fan is through.
Maybe it's better that I didn't
Your wife.
The memory of the sun in the heart weakens.
What is this? Dark?
Maybe!.. He will have time to come overnight
Kyiv
“High in the sky the cloud was turning grey...”
High in the sky the cloud turned gray,
Like a squirrel skin spread out.
He told me: “It’s not a pity that your body
It will melt in March, fragile Snow Maiden!”
In the fluffy muff, my hands were cold.
I felt scared, I felt somehow vague.
Oh how to get you back, quick weeks
His love, airy and momentary!
I don't want bitterness or revenge,
Let me die with the last white blizzard.
I wondered about him on the eve of Epiphany.
I was his girlfriend in January.
Spring 1911
Tsarskoe Selo
"The door is half open..."
The door is half open
Linden trees blow sweetly...
Forgotten on the table
Whip and glove.
The circle from the lamp is yellow...
I listen to the rustling sounds.
Why did you leave?
I don't understand…
Joyful and clear
Tomorrow will be morning.
This life is beautiful
Heart, be wise.
You're completely tired
Beat slower, slower...
You know, I read
That souls are immortal.
Tsarskoe Selo
“You drink my soul like a straw...”
You drink my soul like a straw.
I know that its taste is bitter and intoxicating.
But I will not break the torture with prayer.
Oh, my peace lasts for many weeks.
When you finish, tell me. Not sad
That my soul is not in the world.
I'll go the short way
Watch children play.
Gooseberries bloom on the bushes,
And they are carrying bricks behind the fence.
Who are you: my brother or lover,
I don’t remember, and I don’t need to remember.
How bright it is here and how homeless,
A tired body rests...
And passers-by think vaguely:
That's right, I just became a widow yesterday.
Tsarskoe Selo
“I have fun with you when I’m drunk...”
I'm having fun with you when I'm drunk -
There is no point in your stories.
Early autumn hung
Yellow flags on elms.
Both of us are in a deceitful country
We wandered and bitterly repent,
But why a strange smile
And we smile frozen?
We wanted stinging torment
Instead of serene happiness...
I won't leave my friend
And dissolute and tender.
Paris
“My husband whipped me with a patterned…”
My husband whipped me with a patterned one,
Double folded belt.
For you in the casement window
I sit with the fire all night.
It's dawning. And above the forge
Smoke rises.
Ah, with me, the sad prisoner,
You couldn't stay again.
For you I share a gloomy fate,
I took my share of the flour.
Or do you love blonde
Or is the redhead cute?
How can I hide you, loud moans!
There is a dark, stuffy hop in the heart,
And the rays fall thin
On an unrumpled bed.
Autumn 1911
"Heart to heart is not chained..."
Heart to heart is not chained,
If you want, leave.
Much happiness is in store
To those who are free on the way.
I don't cry, I don't complain
I won't be happy.
Don't kiss me, tired, -
Death will come to kiss you.
The days of acute yearning are over
Together with the white winter.
Why, why are you
Better than my chosen one?
Spring 1911
I'm at sunrise
I sing about love
On my knees in the garden
Swan field.
I tear it out and throw it away -
Let him forgive me.
I see the girl is barefoot
Crying by the fence.
The warm smell is getting stronger
Dead quinoa.
There will be stone instead of bread
My reward is evil.
Tsarskoe Selo
“I came here, you slacker...”
I came here, a slacker
I don’t care where I’m bored!
A mill sleeps on a hillock.
You can remain silent here for years.
Over the dried dodder
The bee floats softly;
I call the mermaid by the pond,
And the mermaid died.
Dragged with rusty mud
The pond is wide, shallow,
Over the trembling aspen
The light month began to shine.
I notice everything as new.
The poplars smell damp.
I'm silent. I'm silent, I'm ready
To become you again, earth.
Tsarskoe Selo
White night
Oh, I didn't lock the door,
Didn't light the candles
You don’t know how, you’re tired,
I didn't dare to lie down.
Watch the stripes fade
In the sunset darkness the pine needles,
Similar to yours.
And know that all is lost
That life is a damned hell!
Oh I was sure
That you will come back.
Tsarskoe Selo
“It’s hot under the canopy of the dark barn...”
It's hot under the canopy of the dark barn,
I laugh, but in my heart I cry angrily.
An old friend mutters to me: “Don't croak!
May we not meet good luck along the way!”
But I don’t trust my old friend.
He is funny, blind and poor,
All his life he measured his steps
Long and boring roads.
“Ah, the travel bags are empty,
And tomorrow there will be hunger and bad weather!”
Tsarskoe Selo
“Bury, bury me, wind!..”
Bury me, bury me, wind!
My family didn't come
The wandering evening is above me
And the breath of the quiet earth.
I was, like you, free,
But I wanted to live too much.
You see, the wind, my corpse is cold,
And there is no one to lay hands on.
Close this black wound
Veil of evening darkness
To make it easy for me, lonely,
Go to the last dream,
Make a noise with the tall sedge
About spring, about my spring.
December 1909
Kyiv
“Believe me, it’s not a sharp snake’s sting...”
Believe me, it’s not a sharp snake sting,
And my melancholy drank my blood.
In the white field I became a quiet girl,
And for a long time another road has been closed to me,
My prince is in the high Kremlin.
Will I deceive him, will I deceive him? - Don't know!
I live on earth only by lies.
Don’t forget how he came to say goodbye to me,
I didn't cry: it was fate.
I cast a spell so that the prince will dream at night,
The poem “Clenched her hands under a dark veil” was written by Anna Akhmatova in 1911, a year after her wedding to Gumilyov. Please leave this point in memory, as it will be useful in further analysis of the strings for their deep understanding.
The poem does not have a complete basis for depicting feelings; the poetess compressed it so that each line had its own weight. Let us pay attention to the key words of the work: “dark veil”, “tart sadness”, “joke” and “don’t stand in the wind”. In 1911, the relationship with Gumilyov was in its prime, so it is unlikely that the lines were written based on the real pain of parting; rather, it was the fear of separation.
The first line sets the tone for the entire poem:
She clasped her hands under a dark veil.
Clenched hands symbolize the pain of separation, and the dark veil is mourning for yesterday's relationship. The heroine of the poem experiences the pangs of parting with her loved one, which is why she is pale and clasps her trembling hands under the cover of a dark veil. The sadness is tart and the heroine drinks it to her drunken lover, trying to bring him back. Why tart? Because just yesterday in its place there was the joy of intimacy, and there were no clouds in the sky.
Dear, does not succumb to the spell and leaves, reeling from the astringency of sadness. The heroine runs after him all the way to the gate, which symbolizes complete separation - the boundary of the relationship. She says she will die if he leaves, but nothing can reignite the fire in the man's heart. He is cold and calm:
Smiled calmly and creepily
The phrase “Don’t stand in the wind” kills. They run after you, literally throw themselves on your neck, and in response you show steely coldness. Where is the last kind word, where is the farewell glance? The last phrase says that there are no more emotions, everything has gone out, and the ash has cooled down.
It seems to me that with this poem Akhmatova inoculates herself against separation - it is better to experience some of the pain in advance in your imagination, then when parting it will be a little easier.
... The separation was still far away - a whole 10 years. Let me remind you that Gumilyov was shot in 1921, but this was not the only blow of fate for Anna Akhmatova.
She clasped her hands under a dark veil...
“Why are you pale today?”
- Because I have tart sadness
Got him drunk.
How can I forget? He came out staggering
The mouth twisted painfully...
I ran away without touching the railing,
I ran after him to the gate.
Gasping for breath, I shouted: “It’s a joke.
All that has gone before. If you leave, I will die."
Smiled calmly and creepily
And he told me: “Don’t stand in the wind.”
January 1911.
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