I am not one of those who left the land to the mercy of its… - Anna Akhmatova

" "
I am not one of those who left the land
to the mercy of its enemies.
Their flattery leaves me cold,
my songs are not for them to praise.

But I pity the exile's lot.
Like a felon, like a man half-dead,
dark is your path, wanderer;
wormwood infects your foreign bread.

But here, in the murk of conflagration,
where scarcely a friend is left to know,
we, the survivors, do not flinch
from anything, not from a single blow.

Surely the reckoning will be made
after the passing of this cloud.
We are the people without tears,
straighter than you...more proud...

Anna Akhmatova

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About Anna Akhmatova

Anna Andreevna Gorenko [А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко] (23 June {11 June O.S.} 1889 - 5 March 1966) was a Russian poet, known primarily by her pen name Anna Akhmatova [А́нна Ахма́това]. Her work was condemned and censored by Soviet authorities and she notably chose not to emigrate, but remained in Russia, acting as witness to the difficulties of living and writing in the shadow of Stalinism.

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Also Known As

Native Name: Анна Андреевна Ахматова • А́нна Андре́евна Ахма́това

Alternative Names: Anna Andreyevna Gorenko • Anna Achmatova • Anna Ahmatova • Anna Gorenko • Anna Andreevna Gorenko • Anna Andreevna Akhmatova • Anna A. Ahmatova

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But here, in the murk of conflagration, where scarcely a friend is left to know we, the survivors, do not flinch from anything, not from a single blow. Surely the reckoning will be made after the passing of this cloud. We are the people without tears, straighter than you … more proud...

I am not one of those who left the land to the mercy of its enemies. Their flattery leaves me cold, my songs are not for them to praise.

Originators like Anna Akhmatova:

Edna St. Vincent Millay Leonard Cohen Sara Teasdale William Butler Yeats Anne Sexton

Additional quotes by Anna Akhmatova

No other looked into her secret eyes.
Nobody dared.

You lived aloof, maintaining to the end your magnificent disdain.

From childhood I have been afraid of mummers. It always seemed an extra shadow without face or name had slipped among them...

I am not one of those who left the land to the mercy of its enemies. Their flattery leaves me cold, my songs are not for them to praise. But I pity … - Anna Akhmatova

About Anna Akhmatova

Also Known As

Shorter versions of this quote

Additional quotes by Anna Akhmatova