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'If the droplets of glass That shattered, ringing, long ago, Could be fused again - this is what would be preserved in them now.' Anna Akhmatova, one of the world's great modern poets, gave a voice to the deepest yearnings and struggles of the Russian people through the course of the twentieth century. In the face of censorship and persecution under a Stalinist regime, she wrote publicly and privately about the most intimate longings of young lovers, the artistic passions of St. Petersburg poets and bohemians and the tragedies suffered during war and revolution. At a time when committing poems to paper threatened to cause her arrest, Akhmatova's close friends memorised her lines in order to keep them alive. Frank, powerful and piercingly beautiful, her work reflects the soul of her country and her people like no other.

Introduction by: Jo Shapcott, Translated by: Judith Hemschemeyer