Anna Akhmatova, for a lack of better description has
struck a nerve with any individual that has loved, lost, or felt great pleasure
or destructive anguish of any kind. If you know anything of Ms. Akhmatova’s
work; you know that she has lived a dynamic, yet, said and very lonely life at
times. Anna’s works express just that; she can relate to an aristocrat in the
nineteenth century or a lonely person that has just felt the sharp knife of a
great love lost of this generation. This poem, which carries no tittle, yet
carries great meaning, has a depth that resonates within ones soul.
“I drink to the wreck
of our life together,
And the pain of
living alone.
I drink to the
loneliness we shared-
My dear, I drink to you.
I drink to the trick
of a mouth that betrayed me,
To the eyes and the
look that lied.
I drink to the
terrible world we inhabit
And to God, who never
replied”.
“I drink to our life together”; Anna is not
toasting love in a joyous fashion. She is almost being flippant. Anna feels
that she had this idea of a great love that now seems to be a lie. She feels as
though her lover/husband have built a life together and resides together under
the same roof with little connection; it is one of loneliness. How hard it must
feel to have had so many hopes and dreams for a love that seems, in the end, to
be a disappointment.
Anna feels betrayed by the words that have
been said by her husband. Many of us can relate in one way or another to having
someone we thought loved us lie; that seems to lessen the love that we thought
we once had. Anna lived during a period
of war and famine; a time when some wanted to revolt against the government
that was oppressing. Not only was the world outside of Anna’s house sad and
cold, but the life inside as well. Anna’s prayers were not answered to help
resolve or save a lost love and or the cruelty in her country. This is one of
my favorite poems of all time. There is such relatable understanding in her
words; you can feel the pain that she is in and taste the wine that she so
bitterly and sadly drinks.
