Shocking, extraordinary, talented - such is the image of Anna Akhtmatova, left to the descendants as a legacy. Her themes were different: civil, philosophical, lyrical. But there is one little-known work in her work that falls out of the clip of her typical creations. The theme was his native land.
Anna Akhmatova
Analysis is a logical method, can it be used to study such subtle and sometimes mystical things as poetry? We will try.
The simple Ukrainian surname Gorenko was in Ani's childhood. It was the desire for creativity that prompted her to take the family name of her grandmother - the Tatar princess: so she managed to hide from her father her published poems under the name of Akhmatov.
Anna was an ordinary child with typical inclinations and interests typical of her age. Only the verses that were born from the heart did not give her rest. She wrote on those topics to which she was not indifferent, to which the soul responded.
She had a chance to visit various parts of the planet, to see the most diverse national and cultural traditions that led to thoughts about the fate of the world. Love, falling in love, fans, experiences and impressions gave rise to poetic lyrics that came out from under her pen. The sources of inspiration for her were Pushkin and Derzhavin.
But one topic has long been alien to her - Yesenin paganism, worship of nature, a sense of eternal connection with the outside world and the infinity of life.
Was Yesenin?
Akhmatova never mentioned any sympathy for Yesenin or a penchant for his poetic images. Yes, and at first glance, poets were distinguished by the style and theme of their works. But did not “experience, the son of difficult mistakes” play a role in Anna’s later worldview?
Akhmatova suffered many trials: war, famine, the loss of her beloved husband, the arrest of her son, persecution and injustice against her. The faded shadow of Leningrad, dear to the heart, met her after the war. All this fell upon the poetess and, undoubtedly, inspired thoughts and influenced the worldview.
Over the years, Akhmatova reflected on the fate of mankind in a civil, social tone, but it is hardly possible to find even a hint of nature worship in her early works. The civil homeland was not identified in her young mind with mother land. And a completely different impression is made by the analysis of Akhmatova’s verse "Native Land".
Paganism in the work of Anna Akhmatova
In 1961, the world saw the somewhat illogical and atypical verse "Native Land" by Akhmatova. The analysis of this small work was carried out more than once, and usually experts attributed it to the so-called civic lyrics. Probably, such conclusions are inspired by the image of the homeland, which is ignored, not noticed and trampled, taking it for granted.
From a different point of view, Akhmatova’s “Native Land” may also give a different impression: the analysis of thoughts “between the lines” makes one argue that this text perfectly illustrates the centuries-old paganism that is characteristic of all those born in Russia.
What is paganism? This is an animation and deification of the forces of nature, the perception of its phenomena as manifestations of the eternal, beyond the scope of human understanding and life. Where in the lines of Akhmatova is all this?
"Native land" Akhmatova
The analysis of this verse is not easy, as is the text itself. In fact, there is a glorification from the opposite: the poetess by ostentatious cynicism and indifference as if lowers the level of holiness of her native land. “We don’t carry it on our chests,” the author says coldly, voicing the modern man. What is heard in these words: sadness, regret, longing? It seems that one indifference.
Further more. Akhmatova says: “Yes, for us it is dirt on galoshes”, thereby completely leveling the significance of the country-homeland and the land as the motherland for billions of people. Having obtained from the reader a 3D effect, a sense of presence, the poetess suddenly beats in the heart, goes deep into everyone’s fear - reminds of an inevitable end. With just a few words, she finishes off a proud and indifferent contemporary: "But we lie down in it and become it."
It is in these few lines that the essence of the poem lies: the deep pagan worldview comes out, representing the earth as an eternal living being, the foremother and grave of all things.
And before this last ruthless blow to modern soullessness, the poetess casually throws a line about the sinlessness of the earth, its sanctity: "He is not involved in anything." Such an outcome reveals to us Akhmatova. "Native land", an analysis of the poem demonstrates this, is a multifaceted picture of being. The master of the word and the heathen!
Mother Earth
So does Akhmatova’s “Native Land” relate to civilian lyrics? The analysis given above is rather subjective, but it has the right to exist, especially today, in the age of thoughtless consumer attitude to the environment and at the same time the discovery of intimate knowledge about the origin and purpose of man.
For centuries, the earth has been a symbol of fertility, birth and motherhood. Yes, it is so: everything that is essential for a person grows and flows out of the earth. How is it that the inhabitants of the beautiful planet Earth remain indifferent to their nurse, and sometimes even cruel? This is what makes the poem reflect.
"What is the source of our life and refuge in death?" - asks Akhmatova. Native land! The analysis of the lines of the poetess leaves no doubt in the answer.