Term 3 Homework Task

You should now be in a position to understand something of the forces that shaped Anna Akhmatova's life and work. Choose a poem written by her before the revolution and explain (writing in role as Anna) how this poem was born out your own life experiences and the social and cultural world you lived in. Try to give a real insight into the connections between her life and work. Publish on your blog by 4.00 pm Tuesday 20th July.
I must say, in the present day, Requiem has become somewhat of a tribute to the women of Stalin's Russia during the years of persecution and purges. When I first wrote it, it was in response to a lady who once, I, together, formed the long lines of mercy that queued up every day outside the gates of the Kresty Prison, in order to catch a glimpse of our loved ones. She had whispered, 'Can you describe this?' And those few words were enough for me to discretely endeavour to construct my thoughts and struggles in to a poem. Such heartache, had I felt, as I arranged, not just my feelings, but the pains of the women of Leningrad, in to verses of a mother's cry for her son. But because my life had been so full of losses and suffering, that to write Requiem, was as easy as stamping my grievious heart, which had longed for my son to return to my arms for 17 months, on to a piece of cigarette paper. I remember, the cold snow, rain and wind, outside those firmly shut gates, were still not able to extinguish the burning love in every mother's heart, waiting for their imprisoned son.