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| I started seeing, Nikolay Punin, before I got a divorce with Vladimir. Punin inspired me to write about more visual things like architecture, visual art, monuments, iron gates, and bridges. We never got married but my long term partner. I wrote a series of poems called Parting which described my relationship with him. Our relationship lasted from the early 20s until the late 30s. |
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| I did not have a great relationship with my second husband, we were broke, we had tuberculosis and overall he kept me in a “prison-like state.” I had no clothes and barely anything to eat because we had no money. We were officially divorced in 1926. He died in 1930 of tuberculosis. |
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| This poem has gotten translated into many different languages. It is called The Muse. I wrote it in Russian, then it got translated to french by Sophie Laffitte and then translated to English by Stanley Burnshaw. The meaning changes in all the poems but still shares the same general idea. |
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| This pictured was painted of me by Nathan Altman in 1914. This is the most famous portrait of me painted. He painted this of me while he was in St. Petersburg teaching at the Mikhail Bernstein’s private art school. |
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‘I won’t beg for your love.’
I won’t beg for your love.
It’s safely laid aside….
I won’t be penning jealous
Letters to your bride.
But be wise, take my advice:
Give her my poems to read,
Give her my photos beside –
Be kind to the newly-wed!
Oh, knowledge is better for geese,
Feeling they’ve won completely,
Than sweet companionable speech,
Or a tender first-night memory…
And when you’ve spent all your
Kopecks of joy with your dear friend,
And your spirit’s sated with it all,
And suddenly you’re ashamed –
Don’t come – I’ll fail to know you –
To me, night’s crestfallen guest.
For how could I help you?
I’ve no cure for happiness.This is a poem I wrote when I was in Paris in 1914. I wrote it while I was seeing Amedeo Modigliani. Shortly after I went back to St. Petersburg. This poem is about my first husband and how I missed him after we got married because our marriage did not last long.
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The Great Nude by Amedeo Modigliani
This painting was painted by Modigliani right after my first husband died. I was in Paris writing poetry when I met him and I spent most of my time with him. He painted at least 20 portraits of me, some of which are nude. |
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In Memoriam July 19, 1914
We aged a hundred years and this descended
In just one hour, as at a stroke.
The summer had been brief and now was ended;
The body of the ploughed plains lay in smoke.
The hushed road burst in colors then, a soaring
Lament rose, ringing silver like a bell.
And so I covered up my face, imploring
God to destroy me before battle fell.
And from my memory the shadows vanished
Of songs and passions—burdens I'd not need.
The Almighty bade it be—with all else banished—
A book of portents terrible to read.This is my most famous poems. It is called In Memoriam. I wrote this poem about my husbands who had just recently died. I missed him a lot and this poem was put in my first series of poems.
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| I got married to my husband on April 25 in 1910 in the Nikolayevsky Church in the town of Nikolska Slobodka. None of my family attended the wedding. We honeymooned in Kiev for several weeks and then we set out for Paris at the beginning of May. Shortly after I was married we lived in St. Petersburg and I studied History and Literature at the Higher Women’s Institute. Shortly after we had a child named Lev born October 1 1912. |
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| Paris is where I wrote most of my poetry and where my career took off. When I went on my honeymoon there with my first husband, I fell in love with the city. So after he died, I decided to go back. Which is when I got really inspired to write a lot more and about other things besides love. |
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| This is a picture of Odessa where I was born. I was born with the name Anna Gorenko in a small cottage on the seashore. I was only here for 11 months with my siblings when we moved to a small town next to St. Petersburg, Russia. I have two older siblings named Andrey and Inna, my younger siblings are Iya, Irina and Viktor. There is a plaque on the house where I was born set up by the City of Odessa showing how proud they were of me. |
Citations:
Artifact 1:
Clarke, Theodora. "BOOK REVIEW: The Unsung Hero of the Russian Avant-Garde: Nikolay Punin by Natalia Murray." BOOK REVIEW: The Unsung Hero of the Russian Avant-Garde: Nikolay Punin by Natalia Murray. Web. 10 Dec 2015.
Artifact 2:
"Vladimir Shileyko." Vladimir Shileyko. Web. 10 Dec 2015. <http://www.snipview.com/q/Vladimir_Shileyko>
Artifact 3:
Akhmatova, Anna, Sophie Laffitte and Stanley Burnshaw. "September 1961 : Poetry Magazine." Poetry Foundation. Web. 10 Dec 2015. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse/98/6#!/20588486>
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Artifact 5:
Kline, A. S.. "Anna Akhmatova: Selective poems in translation."Anna Akhmatova Selected Poems Including ‘Requiem’. Web. 10 Dec 2015. <http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Russian/Akhmatova.htm>
Artifact 6:
Modigliani, Amedeo. "Akhmatova as Acrobat." Anna Akhmatova as Acrobat. Web. 10 Dec 2015. <http://modigliani-drawings.com/Akhmatova%20as%20Acrobat%20%5Bwith%20photo%5D.htm>
Artifact 7:
Akhmatova, Anna and Stephen Edgar. "In Memoriam, July 19, 1914." Poetry Foundation. Web. 10 Dec 2015. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/181304>.
Artifact 8:
Bondarenko, Aleksandr. "Nikolay Gumilev- Russiapedia."Prominent Russians: Nikolay Gumilev. Web. 10 Dec 2015. <http://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/literature/nikolay-gumilev/>.<http://www.russianartandculture.com/book-review-nikolai-punin-nataliamurray/>.
Artifact 9:
Le Nevez, Catherine. "Paris - Lonely Planet." Paris. Web. 10 Dec 2015. <http://www.lonelyplanet.com/france/paris>.
Artifact 10:
" Odessa, Ukraine on the Black Sea." Odessa, Ukraine on the Black Sea. Web. 10 Dec 2015. <http://www.lagunabeachbikini.com/index.php/2010/08/24/odessa-ukraine-on-the-black-sea/>.
