[Russian-Soviet] Akhmatova's "Don't Rub My Letters..." Appreciation of Love Poems
[Russian-Soviet] Akhmatova
Don't rub my letter, dear.
Better read it, my friend.
I am tired of being an unknown woman,
and I don’t want to pretend to have nothing to do with you on your way.
Don't look at me like that, don't frown angrily.
I am the one in your heart, I belong to you.
I am not a shepherdess, not a princess,
nor a nun——
I am wearing an ordinary gray dress,
My feet are the soles of worn-out old shoes...
But when I hugged, it was as hot as before,
There was still the same fear in my huge eyes.
Don't rub my letter, dear,
Don't cry for the hypocrisy hidden in your heart.
You pack the letter and put it in your backpack,
In the deep bottom of your poor backpack.
Tsarskoe Selo in 1912
(Translated by Ulan Khan)
Akhmatova’s friend and expert on Akhmatova’s poetry, Ko· I. Chukovsky said when talking about the love poems of the female poet, "She spoke in the name of a woman who was not loved by others, thus creating a series of tortured, unrequited love poems. The image of a woman who is restless and grief-stricken." After carefully recalling the love poems of female poets I have read, I feel that this statement is indeed very reasonable. Although each of the love poems by female poets has different stories and emotional connotations, the lyrical heroines are almost always "tortured" and "uneasy" on the ark of love. This song "Don't Rub My Letters..." is about the heroine's bold pursuit of love regardless of worldly prejudices. However, the ending is still unavailable, and the only hope is that the lover will not write about herself. The letter to him was "rubbed" and thrown away. In this poem, the poet advocates an open and normal love life, but the writing method is very different from the first two poems. There is no plot or picture here, but a "letter" is used to express a woman's passionate feelings. At the beginning of the poem, the lyrical heroine warns her lover that she does not want to be a sneaky mistress. Since we love each other, why do you let me "pretend that it has nothing to do with you" on the road? "I am the person in your heart, I belong to you", why do you still "furrow your brows angrily" when you see me? Then a little more After admonishing and questioning with some doubts, the lyrical heroine frankly stated her identity. She said, I am talking about the "shepherd girl" in the myth, nor the arrogant and wealthy "princess", nor the fireworks of the world. "Nun", "I am wearing an ordinary gray dress, and the soles of my feet are worn out old shoes", which is no different from ordinary women in the world. Because of this, I need to love others and need the love of others. So when I hugged you, it was as fiery as before, and there was still the same fear in my huge eyes. However, since the lyrical heroine is pursuing a normal love life, why does she still have "fear" in her eyes when she hugs her lover? Of course, it can be explained by the nervous and shy mood of women when they come into contact with men. However, this is somewhat contradictory to the bold pursuit before. However, it is this "contradiction" that shows the uniqueness of Akhmatova's love poems. Without this "contradiction", perhaps this would not be Akhmatova's love poems. Because from the first verse of the poem, the lyrical heroine has a premonition and shows us layer by layer that this love will not have a happy ending. What she gives is "sincerity", and what she gets in return may be " hypocritical". With sufficient psychological preparation in the past, she can finally make a calm request and comfort. She neither regrets the sincere love she has given, nor asks her lover to "stop crying for the hypocrisy hidden in your heart." “Pack the letter up, put it in your knapsack, put it in the deep bottom of your poor knapsack.” In these words, there is not only the lyrical heroine's appropriate condemnation of those who betray their love, but also the tenderness of a woman. This is Akhmatova's love poem, which is complex in connotation, deep and pathos. Some people criticize Akhmatova's love poems as the poems of a "lady" and "***". I think this criticism is unreasonable. For this reason, the famous poet Tvardovsky of the former Soviet Union once defended Akhmatova's love poems. He said: "Her poems of this type are definitely not 'lady' style poems. Her poems are full of affectation. , coquettishness, romance are irrelevant. In Akhmatova's writing, love is not a hobby for entertainment, nor a gift given to lust. It is rich in profound connotation. The measure of human sentiment. "Tvardovsky is indeed a famous poet. He also writes love poems, so he is particularly able to understand the thoughts and emotions of the authors of love poems, so he can make such weighty comments.