In the terrible years of the Yezhov terror I spent seventeen months waiting in line outside the prison in Leningrad. One day somebody in the crowd identified me . . . and asked me in a whisper . . . "Can you describe this?" And I said: "I can."
Anna AkhmatovaToday I have so much to do: I must kill memory once and for all, I must turn my soul to stone, I must learn to live again. Unless ... Summer's ardent rustling is like a festival outside my window.
Anna AkhmatovaLet whoever wants to, relax in the south, And bask in the garden of paradise. Here is the essence of northยand it's autumn I've chosen as this year's friend.
Anna Akhmatova