Akhmatova give me the bitter years of illness. Analysis of Akhmatova’s poem “Prayer”

Anna Akhmatova's civic poetry is emotional and subtle poetry, which reveals topics and problems that are relevant to the country. The poetess has always been indifferent to the fate of her people and patronymic, so in her poems we often find the pain and experiences experienced by a person who truly loves his homeland.

Anna Andreevna Akhmatova in her poem “Prayer” conveyed all the compassion and sympathy to the Russian people. The poetess always “spoke” for the people, I describe all the pain of an ordinary person. In 1915, she finished writing the poem “Prayer.” 1915 was a very difficult and terrible year - the height of the First World War.

In her poem, she shared the pain of the entire people, because it was not easy for everyone, including the poetess. The war was unbearable and alien to a woman’s heart, which is why the work turned out so tragic and gloomy. The name “Prayer” is not accidental - war is a time when many give up, when there is no longer hope, when there is simply no one to hope for, then people ask God for help

Genre, direction, size

The genre of “Prayers” is the traditional prayer poem for Akhmatova: small volume, expressiveness and eloquence, solemnity of style.

Speaking about the direction in which Anna Andreevna worked, it is worth mentioning Acmeism. The Acmeists abandoned the principles of symbolism and introduced their own canons - clarity in expressing the author's position and a return to the material world.

The short poem is written in cross rhyme (ABAB) and has an anapest meter.

Images and symbols

The symbol system is represented by three main symbols.

1. In the first quatrain, the “mysterious gift of song” symbolizes the voice of the people, which the lyrical hero is ready to give for the sake of his country, even if he becomes unhappy.
2. The cloud in the second stanza is a symbol of the darkness hanging over Russia - war.
3. But the “cloud in the glory of the rays” is a victorious memory of the struggle, a historical memory, where the rays are the joy and pride of the people for victory over the enemy.

The system of images is not so extensive, but this can be explained by the small size of the poem itself. The main images are a sacrificial patriot who is ready to give everything he has for the good of the Motherland and the image of the Creator, to whom the lyrical hero turns for help so that the country can finally free itself from the shackles of darkness.

Theme and mood

The main theme of Akhmatova’s poem is patriotism, self-sacrifice for the sake of one’s country. The lyrical heroine is filled with a sense of faith in the future victory of the Fatherland. She is ready to sacrifice everything - her health, her child, and even her voice.

The mood of the poem is fully consistent with the theme - patriotic. The lyrical heroine anticipates the future prosperity of the country, she just needs a little help. Readers immediately feel a sense of awe before the virtue of the lyrical heroine, whom they want to live up to.

The poem also raises the issue of war. She has driven people to despair, they are ready to make fabulous sacrifices on the altar of victory, only this nightmare has stopped.

Idea

The meaning of the poem is to raise the people's spirit of resistance to the enemy. The author calls on people to sacrifice themselves in a Christian way in order to save the country. This is the only way to drive the threat away from our borders and ensure prosperity for future generations.

Anna Andreevna wants everyone to match the lyrical heroine - a sacrificial, patriotic and valiant person. She is ready to sacrifice the most precious thing for her mother - her child, just to bring the long-awaited victory closer, just to save the future of the country.

Means of artistic expression

Akhmatova’s poem is replete with means of artistic expression. For example, in the very first line we see the epithet “bitter years.” The figurative use of this adjective enhances the darkness of the country in which the fatherland exists because of the war.

The epithet “dark Russia” is also found - again reinforcing the image of a “weak” homeland.

The cloud and the cloud are an expanded metaphor for the war and the historical memory of it.

Complete collection and description: Anna Akhmatova poem prayer with analysis for the spiritual life of a believer.

Analyzes of other poems

Anna Akhmatova poem prayer with analysis

Anna Andreevna Akhmatova’s poem “Prayer” was written during a very difficult period. At this time, Russia took an active part in the hostilities of the First World War. Anna Andreevna's husband, Nikolai Gumilyov, volunteered to join the army. Akhmatova’s ironic attitude towards war as a man’s toy gradually gave way to horror. Before her eyes were crippled soldiers returning home. The poetess was shocked to the core by the tragedy that befell people. In 1915, she wrote the poem “Prayer,” which was originally intended for her husband, but Akhmatova never decided to send a letter with it. She was embarrassed to realize that many wives were praying for the speedy return of their husbands, and in her work she proclaimed her readiness to sacrifice everything in the name of Russia’s victory.

The theme of the poem is an appeal to the tragic fate of the homeland. The poetess prays to higher powers to take everything from her: her health, talent, beloved friend, child - in exchange for freedom and independence of her native land. The main idea is a sense of deep responsibility for Russia. To sacrifice all that is dearest to the lyrical hero in the name of the homeland is the desire of a true patriot who wants to take part in the fate of the homeland in the harshest times.

The composition of the poem resembles a prayer of a believer, an appeal to the Lord. Suffering from the fact that she cannot provide any other help to her native land, the lyrical heroine sacrifices everything for the good of Russia.

The poem is written in trimeter anapest, using cross rhyme. Male and female rhymes alternate. This gives the work a melodious sound, bringing it closer to the genre of prayer. In order to convey her emotions and blood connection with her homeland, Akhmatova uses various epithets (“bitter years”, “mysterious gift”). The metaphors used in this small work amaze with their richness and beauty (“So that the cloud over dark Russia // Becomes a cloud in the glory of the rays”).

Anna Andreevna Akhmatova's call to higher powers did not go unanswered. The war ended, the bloodshed stopped, and the poetess’s wish came true. But she had to pay a very high price for this. Her life was very difficult, this strong woman had to go through a lot: the execution of Nikolai Gumilyov, the arrests of her son, hunger, illness, poverty, constant persecution. The words of the poetess’s prayer came true. As a reward for her passionate love for her homeland, God left her only her poetic gift, accepting all other sacrifices.

“Prayer” by A. Akhmatov

Give me the bitter years of illness,

Choking, insomnia, fever,

Take away both the child and the friend,

And the mysterious gift of song -

So I pray at Your liturgy

So that a cloud over dark Russia

Became a cloud in the glory of the rays.

Analysis of Akhmatva’s poem “Prayer”

First World War, in which Russia was involved in 1914, radically changed the lives of so many people. Among them was Anna Akhmatova, who realized during this period that her family, which she had so dreamed of, actually existed only on paper. The whole point is that the husband of the poetess Nikolai Gumilev, at the first opportunity, signed up to volunteer for the army, which aroused Akhmatova’s indignation. She understood that someone had to defend her homeland at a time when mortal danger loomed over it. However, it was obvious that Gumilyov was driven not so much by patriotic feelings as by the desire to escape from home and leave his family for new adventures. Akhmatova herself for quite a long time perceived the war as some kind of entertainment for men. And only in the middle of 1915, when crippled soldiers from among her close friends began to return home, and funerals came to many houses, Akhmatova realized the full horror of what was happening. She no longer joked about men going to war to get rid of their annoying wives, and she radically changed her attitude towards combat. Realizing that there would be no return to her past life, calm and serene, Akhmatova still dreamed that the bloody massacre, which had claimed thousands of human lives, would end. Moreover, the poetess hoped for the victory of the Russian troops, at some point acutely feeling that she was a true daughter of her people, who became a patriot even before she learned to speak. She was ready to give everything she had in order for Russia to maintain its independence.

In 1915, Akhmatova wrote a short poem, which she planned to send to Gumilev to the front. However, at the last moment she decides not to do this, as she feels like a traitor to her husband. At a time when many women are praying for their husbands to return from the war safe and sound, Akhmatova is ready to make a bloody and terrible sacrifice, exclaiming: “Take away both the child and the friend.” By friend, the poetess means Gumilyov, for whom she has very warm feelings, but has not considered him her husband for a long time. In addition, Akhmatova is ready to sacrifice her own health and well-being, and also agrees to live the rest of her days in sorrow and poverty. The poetess is ready to sacrifice even her “mysterious gift of song,” which she prays to God for during the liturgy. In return, Akhmatova asks only one thing - “so that the cloud over dark Russia becomes a cloud in the glory of the rays.”

True believers are well aware that the Lord hears the prayers of each of us. Therefore, even if Akhmatova flirted with the Almighty, she was well aware that her request could be fulfilled, even if not exactly the way the poetess wanted it. The war really ended, although without a brilliant Russian victory. However, the truce was concluded after the Great October Revolution, and bloody communist terror became a kind of payment for getting rid of the external enemy. Akhmatova herself also had to make more than one sacrifice on the altar of peaceful life. First of all, we are talking about Nikolai Gumilyov, who was executed in 1921. The son of the poetess Lev Gumilyov also went to prison twice. The poetess’s prayer was truly heard, and she lived a very difficult life, going through persecution and persecution, serious illness and poverty. The only thing that the Lord left for Akhmatova was her amazing poetic gift, which became for her a reward for her faith in the steadfastness of Russia, patriotism and a clear separation of such concepts as “motherland” and “state”.

In 1915, Akhmatova’s poem was published, which was called “Prayer”. This poem has conquered the world to some extent. Because the poetess lived in those times when it was difficult for everyone, including her. She did not stand aside, on the contrary, she felt everything with her soul, with all her heart, too.

That is why, according to critics, her work, which is so small in size, still captivates all those who have read her work, which can be considered a work of art. So, the poem itself consists of eight lines, and besides, it is rhymed very well, and it is pleasant to read not only for its meaning, but also because rhyme is doubly beautiful and pleasant.

1915 was a difficult year, because the First World War began a year ago, it was already underway, and for no one it was unbearable. In those days, many men went to war, almost none of the male population remained, only children and old people. Some women - everything is in their hands. That is why the poem is called “Prayer”. After all, when it is difficult - and there is war in the world - you begin to pray, sincerely and sincerely, because it seems as if this is the last hope to save yourself and your loved ones.

This word - the word prayer in itself determines the name of the genre - prayer. The prayer verse is very powerful in every sense of the word. Because he put pressure on people’s feelings, forcing them to shed tears, to feel guilty because none of the mere mortals, it would seem, could stop this terrible war, because living like this became unbearable.

Anna Akhmatova well understood and shared the feelings of people, and not only in those days, but even earlier. That is why she is still considered and will be considered a very famous and great poetess of her times. But even now her works have a very good influence on us, ordinary people.

Akhmatova’s poem “Prayer” was able to conquer the world because every person is at least a little familiar with this feeling - a feeling of horror in front of something that cannot be averted. The poetess was able to touch the most subtle and sensitive strings of our soul, the human soul, and therefore very vulnerable.

In the work, the story is told not on behalf of the author, but on behalf of an unknown lyrical hero, and it is this character, who seems to us to be one of the victims of that time, from whom a brother, husband or son was taken away - simply prays to God that everything will finally - it ended, and there was silence and calm in the world, and everything returned again, as it was before.

Anna Akhmatova is a great poet of those times.

Analysis of the poem Prayer according to plan

Analysis of the author's poems:

You might be interested

Not everyone even knows that he is a prose writer, translator, chess player, just an amazing person who also wrote poetry: complex, rich and beautiful. Getting to know them simply cannot leave you indifferent.

Afanasy Fet wrote the work “Another May Night...” in 1857. Literary critics attribute this work to a large cycle of lyrical landscapes. The work has a beautiful title and the reader can watch in anticipation

This poem is one of the beautiful examples love lyrics Anna Akhmatova, imbued with great life and philosophical meaning. This is a very sensual feminine

The poem “Prayer” (“In a difficult moment of life”) appeared in 1839, during the mature period of Lermontov’s creative life. The poet already had the bad reputation of an atheist and freethinker

The poem “I erected a monument to myself not made by hands” was written by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin in 1836. This is the last year of the life of the great poet and writer. So, six months after writing the poem, he died

Analysis of Akhmatova's poem Prayer

Analysis of Anna Akhmatova’s poem “Prayer”

The First World War left its mark on many families. She did not bypass the life of Anna Akhmatova, since Nikolai Gumilyov, the poetess’s husband, walked the front roads. It was these difficult years of struggle with the enemy that became the basis for the creation of the poetic masterpiece “Prayer”.

This eight-line lyric poetry was released to the world in 1915 and focused on the feelings of a man of art during this difficult period. Such people considered themselves guilty of not being able to rebel against this massacre, which swept almost the entire world.

The title of the poem is laconic: “Prayer.” It was this word that determined the genre of the work. This verse-prayer is a direct call to the Lord, an ardent prayer for the future. The plot of the poetry is structured in such a way that the greatest tension is felt in the first lines - the climax. The heroine of the work is a subtle lyrical nature, she is ready to sacrifice things dear to her heart for the good of her homeland and people.

With pain, she begs the Lord for “bitter years of illness” with shortness of breath, fever and insomnia. Then she sends an expressive exclamation to God: “Take away both the child and the friend,” and after that the Muse is generally ready to give up her “gift of song” so that a unique transformation can occur: the “cloud” that rose “over dark Russia” turns into a cloud "in the glory of the rays."

Anna Akhmatova herself sincerely believed in God and in the power of prayer words. With some sixth sense, the poetess realized that everything she asked for would definitely come true. And so it happened: peace was signed, the end of the war saved the lives of millions of people.

In her work “Prayer,” the master of words showed the depth of her soul. She skillfully went beyond her own experiences and created a poetic masterpiece that became a pathetic ode to peace and love on a luminous scale. This is how Akhmatova appears to us as a sincere patriot of her Motherland. The poetic meter of the work is a three-foot anapest, cross rhyme, alternating rhyme (female - masculine).

Compositionally, the poem is structured as a plea, which is emphasized by the verbs “give” and “take away.” After all, Akhmatova understood the seriousness of the war only when she saw the horror happening with her own eyes. She couldn’t believe that her former calm life would return, so her hope was only in the Almighty.

Her “Prayer” is the prayer of many women whose husbands were at the front. For the sake of their beloved, they, like the poetess herself, are ready to sacrifice themselves and their well-being, agreeing to live in poverty.

A. Akhmatova “Prayer”. Poem analysis?

Anna Andreevna Akhmatova’s poem “Prayer” is included in her lyrical collection “White Flock”, published after the collections “Evening” and “Rosary” and combining works from 1914 to 1917.

The epigraph to the book, like to previous collections, is imbued with suffering:

But there is another motive here. In the word “light” one hears a certain dignity-filled calm. And a person acquires this state simultaneously with a philosophical position formed on the basis of life experience: a person must bear his cross with dignity - this is the meaning of existence. This attitude is quite natural in the context of wartime - the reign of death, disease, devastation, poverty, hunger, slavery - something that destroys the whole world, all of humanity. In short eight lines, a lot of things are named that the lyrical heroine is ready to sacrifice for a bright world, victory, and the glory of her country.

Everything that a person lives with in normal times - family, favorite business, children, friends - all these values ​​that are significant for an individual recede in the face of a national tragedy.

Prayer is a spell, a plea for salvation, sanctified by a person’s faith that he will be heard. These words contain self-denial, the renunciation of one’s own, small, personal happiness in the name of

And there is no other way when you realize the inseparability of your fate from the fate of your Motherland. And this is not a momentary impulse, but the result of long and difficult work of the soul, a stoic decision.

The deep ideological meaning of the poem explains the solemnity of its sound. The text is full of high vocabulary: “liturgy”, “illness”, “gift”, “fever”; metaphors: “cloud”, “cloud in the glory of rays”; The epithet “dark” in characterizing the image of Russia is understood as “bitter, unhappy.”

The poem “Prayer” is one of many works by A. Akhmatova, where she expresses her inseparability from the fate of the country, accepting as her own all the hardships and suffering of her Motherland.

Analysis of the poem "Prayer" by A. A. Akhmatova

Give me the bitter years of illness,

Choking, insomnia, fever,

Take away both the child and the friend,

And the mysterious gift of song -

So I pray at Your liturgy

After so many tedious days,

So that a cloud over dark Russia

Became a cloud in the glory of the rays.

The poem "Prayer" is included in the collection "White Flock". This is the third book of poems by Anna Andreevna Akhmatova. Before this, the collections “Evening” and

“The White Flock” includes poems from 1914 – 1917. The epigraph to the book, as in previous collections, is imbued with suffering: “I am burning and the road is bright at night.” But this is not the only motif in the collection. The last word “svetla” sounds like a strange, dignified reassurance. And this state comes to a person when he not only gains life experience, but also finds in it his philosophical position: with a sense of self-worth, “carrying your cross” - and in this seeing the meaning of existence.

The year 1915 is the second year of the First World War. War... This word contains the most terrible things: death, hunger, destruction, poverty, slavery, disease - everything that brings destruction to the world and humanity. It, this word, does not sound in the poem, but in eight short lines a lot is named that the lyrical heroine is ready to give for a bright world, for victory, for the glory of Russia.

How does a person live on earth? What is dear to him when he does not think in everyday life about the global, significant on a global scale? Of course, your favorite thing, friends, home, children, peace, health... And to the extent that all this loses its meaning, no, rather, it does not lose, but recedes in the face of a universal tragedy.

Prayer is a spell, a plea for salvation, faith in what helps a person to hope and survive. This poem sounds not only self-denial, renunciation of her own, personal, small happiness, which the heroine is ready to give in order to

“the cloud over dark Russia became a cloud in the glory of the rays,” but also an awareness of the inseparability of one’s fate from the fate of the country. And this is not an impulse, this is a stoic decision made from long languid days - to give everything: the gift of song, and a friend, and even a child, for common glory and victory.

This is the whole of Akhmatova, who knows how to absorb the world into herself and thereby make it richer.

“We are condemned - and we ourselves know this - to waste, not to save,” - what she said in the same 1915 allows her poem to gain immortality. Her poetry expresses love for her homeland, for the spiritual and moral self-esteem of man. And all this is cemented by the personality of Anna Andreevna Akhmatova herself, her honest attitude to life, to the land, to people.

The poem “Prayer” sounds solemn, since it contains a deep ideological meaning - there is nothing more precious in the world for a person than the peaceful life of the people of his country. To do this, the poet uses high vocabulary: “illness”, “fever”, “gift”, “liturgy”; metaphors: “cloud”, “cloud in the glory of rays”; The epithet “dark” in relation to Russia should be understood as bitter, unhappy.

This is one of the poems that expresses not only the human, but also the civic essence of the poet A.A. Akhmatova.

Prayer for the salvation of one's native country

The poem “Prayer” contains only 8 lines and very accurately corresponds to its title. This is precisely prayer - an ardent and confidential appeal to God. Akhmatova’s lyrical heroine is ready to sacrifice everything so that the cloud hanging over Russia “becomes a cloud in the glory of rays.” She asks God to send her “bitter years of illness” and agrees to give him “both her child and her friend.” For the sake of the well-being of her native country, the lyrical heroine, merging with Akhmatova herself, is ready to give up even her talent - the “mysterious gift of song.”

The contrast between a black cloud and a “cloud in the glory of rays” goes back to biblical images, where the first metaphor is the embodiment of a terrible, ominous force that brings death, and the second is addressed to Christ himself, sitting in a cloud of glory. It must be said that Anna Andreevna was a deeply religious person and understood the power of the word heard in prayer. She was well aware that what was said in an impulse of prayer very often came true.

The power of the poetic word

As surprising as it may seem, everything really came true. The First World War ended, but it was replaced by revolution and Civil War. First, on charges of participating in a counter-revolutionary conspiracy, Akhmatova’s husband, Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev, was shot, then her son, Lev Gumilev, was arrested. God accepted her enormous sacrifice. There was only one thing he did not take away from Akhmatova - the amazing “gift of song,” which, perhaps, helped her survive the most difficult trials that befell her. In her lyrical works, Anna Andreevna constantly conducts a dialogue with some imaginary interlocutor. The invisible interlocutor, who knows all the heroine’s secrets, is also present in “Prayer”. However, now the poem takes on a completely different, universal scale, because the lyrical heroine turns to God himself.

The metaphor underlying the ending is very beautiful and visually perceptible. As if before the reader’s eyes, a black cloud is pierced by the sun’s rays, and it suddenly turns into a dazzlingly beautiful, sparkling cloud.

Trembling, sublime love, deep, sincere faith and powerful poetic words are inseparable in Akhmatova’s poetry. Love for her is not only a tender relationship between a man and a woman, but also sacrificial love for the homeland, and Christian love for God. That is why the very small poem “Prayer” is endowed with such deep inner strength.

Reasons for expulsion: why every fifth student does not graduate from university

According to statistics, 21% of Russian university students “fall short” of receiving a diploma, having interrupted their studies. Why is this.

Not registered yet?

Ideological analysis of Akhmatova’s poem “Prayer”

It is appropriate to begin the analysis of Akhmatova’s poem “Prayer” with a remark from her great contemporary, Osip Mandelstam. One day he noticed that Anna Andreevna’s poetry was close to becoming one of the symbols of the greatness of Russia. The poet's mission became the defining, deep meaning of her life.

Prerequisites for creation, genre analysis of the poem “Prayer”

Akhmatova wrote this short lyrical work in 1915, during the most difficult years of the First World War, on the fronts of which her husband, poet Nikolai Gumilyov, fought with the enemy. The war, of course, was the tragedy of the century, and people of art felt this especially keenly. And it was they who were tormented by a sense of guilt for not being able to resist the spiritual and moral decline, expressed in the “apocalyptic” massacre that swept the world and destroyed Russia.

Compositionally, this small, eight-line poem corresponds to the genre stated in its title: prayer. This is a truly confidential and ardent appeal to God, a prayer that begins with a climax. The lyrical heroine sacrifices what is most dear to her for the well-being of her homeland. She asks God for “bitter years of illness,” strengthening her prayer with expressive details: “suffocation, insomnia, fever.” Then the poet’s muse goes even further - she asks the Almighty: “Take away both the child and the friend.” She is finally ready to give up the most precious thing: the “mysterious gift of song” in exchange for the desired miraculous transformation to take place: “the cloud over dark Russia has become a cloud in the glory of the rays.” The poetic antithesis of the cloud over the country and the cloud in the glory of the rays appeals to the biblical opposition, where the first is a metaphor for the evil, death-bringing force (as, for example, in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 38, p. 9), and the second is addressed to Christ sitting in a cloud of glory.

Analysis of Akhmatova’s poem “Prayer”: the power of patriotic impulse

Anna Andreevna was a deeply religious person and well understood the power of the words spoken in prayer. What was the spiritual tension that broke through in these expressive lines? Internal struggle, tossing, doubts - everything is behind us, and now this sacrificial liturgical petition sounds. She could not help but realize that everything said would come true. And it came true. A peace agreement was signed, the war ended - although not with glory for Russia, but with the preservation of millions of lives, rest after long exhausting days and nights. And soon a revolution and civil war broke out. Akhmatova’s husband, Nikolai Gumilyov, was shot under a fictitious sentence for having connections with the White Guards, and her son was arrested. The personal tragedy was aggravated by the horror of the bloody terror of the Bolsheviks. What Anna Akhmatova wrote about has happened. “Prayer” (analysis of the poem confirms this) not only demonstrated the power of the poetic word, but confirmed the feature that distinguishes the poems of this profound poet: the ability to go beyond the intimate psychological sphere and rise to a poetic declaration of love in its global manifestation. This is true patriotism and true piercing love for one’s country.

Lyrical language

God did not take one thing from Akhmatova - an original poetic gift, which became a precious asset of Russia, which she loved so much. A characteristic feature of her lyrics is a dialogue with an imaginary interlocutor. This artistic technique is present in her early poems, in which the lyrical heroine explains to her lover or describes her inner state. An analysis of Akhmatova’s poem “Prayer” makes it clear: now a new scale and intonation are appearing in her creative range. But the poetics do not change. There is still an invisible interlocutor who knows all the secrets and details of her life and who has the power to decide her fate. And the finale of the work turns out to be just as capacious and imaginative as in all previous and subsequent verses: a visually tangible and strikingly beautiful picture of a magnificent metamorphosis familiar to every person, when a dark cloud is suddenly pierced from within by the sun’s rays, and it suddenly turns into a dazzlingly shining cloud.

Finally

In the work of Anna Andreevna Akhmatova, the word, faith and love are inseparable. She understood love in a broad Christian way: it is a reverent relationship between two people, and an ardent, sacrificial love for the homeland and people. An analysis of Akhmatova’s poem “Prayer” at one time led the poet Naum Korzhavin to the conclusion that her lyrics make it possible to call this great woman a people’s poet in the full sense of the word.

“Prayer” Anna Akhmatova

Give me the bitter years of illness,
Choking, insomnia, fever,
Take away both the child and the friend,
And the mysterious gift of song -
So I pray at Your liturgy
After so many tedious days,
So that a cloud over dark Russia
Became a cloud in the glory of the rays.

Analysis of Akhmatva’s poem “Prayer”

The First World War, in which Russia was involved in 1914, radically changed the lives of many people. Among them was Anna Akhmatova, who realized during this period that her family, which she had so dreamed of, actually existed only on paper. The whole point is that the husband of the poetess Nikolai Gumilev, at the first opportunity, signed up to volunteer for the army, which aroused Akhmatova’s indignation. She understood that someone had to defend her homeland at a time when mortal danger loomed over it. However, it was obvious that Gumilyov was driven not so much by patriotic feelings as by the desire to escape from home and leave his family for new adventures. Akhmatova herself for quite a long time perceived the war as some kind of entertainment for men. And only in the middle of 1915, when crippled soldiers from among her close friends began to return home, and funerals came to many houses, Akhmatova realized the full horror of what was happening. She no longer joked about men going to war to get rid of their annoying wives, and she radically changed her attitude towards combat. Realizing that there would be no return to her past life, calm and serene, Akhmatova still dreamed that the bloody massacre, which had claimed thousands of human lives, would end. Moreover, the poetess hoped for the victory of the Russian troops, at some point acutely feeling that she was a true daughter of her people, who became a patriot even before she learned to speak. She was ready to give everything she had in order for Russia to maintain its independence.

In 1915, Akhmatova wrote a short poem, which she planned to send to Gumilev to the front. However, at the last moment she decides not to do this, as she feels like a traitor to her husband. At a time when many women are praying for their husbands to return from the war safe and sound, Akhmatova is ready to make a bloody and terrible sacrifice, exclaiming: “Take away both the child and the friend.” By friend, the poetess means Gumilyov, for whom she has very warm feelings, but has not considered him her husband for a long time. In addition, Akhmatova is ready to sacrifice her own health and well-being, and also agrees to live the rest of her days in sorrow and poverty. The poetess is ready to sacrifice even her “mysterious gift of song,” which she prays to God for during the liturgy. In return, Akhmatova asks only one thing - “so that the cloud over dark Russia becomes a cloud in the glory of the rays.”

True believers are well aware that the Lord hears the prayers of each of us. Therefore, even if Akhmatova flirted with the Almighty, she was well aware that her request could be fulfilled, even if not exactly the way the poetess wanted it. The war really ended, although without a brilliant Russian victory. However, the truce was concluded after the Great October Revolution, and bloody communist terror became a kind of payment for getting rid of the external enemy. Akhmatova herself also had to make more than one sacrifice on the altar of peaceful life. First of all, we are talking about Nikolai Gumilyov, who was executed in 1921. The son of the poetess Lev Gumilyov also went to prison twice. The poetess’s prayer was truly heard, and she lived a very difficult life, going through persecution and persecution, serious illness and poverty. The only thing that the Lord left for Akhmatova was her amazing poetic gift, which became for her a reward for her faith in the steadfastness of Russia, patriotism and a clear separation of such concepts as “motherland” and “state”.

All her contemporaries should have read the poem “Prayer” by Anna Andreevna Akhmatova. Although it is quite small in content (only eight lines), however, it carries great meaning. The title of the work coincides with its content. This is truly a prayer. Anna Andreevna turns to God in it. She asks him to take everything she has: her friend, her son, her health, and even her poetic gift, but only to save Russia. In the end, this is what happens. The war ends, however, immediately after it a revolution occurs in Russia. Her husband is executed, her son is arrested. Anna Andreevna is sick a lot. God leaves only one thing to her, namely her poetic gift.

The text of Akhmatova’s poem “Prayer” was written in 1915. At this time, the First World War was going on. Initially, she wanted to send him to the front to her husband Nikolai Gumilyov, but then changed her mind. Anna Andreevna was afraid that he would consider this a betrayal, because in the poem she, one might say, renounced him.

The work is studied in a literature lesson in 11th grade. You can read it in its entirety online on our website. If you were asked to learn a poem at school, you can download it for free to your phone, smartphone or other device.