Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In Anna Akhmatova's poem "How Can You Look at the Neva," the speaker grapples with themes of sorrow, impending doom, and the inescapable weight of memories connected to a specific place. The poem presents a psychological landscape as bleak as the physical setting-the Neva River and the bridges in St. Petersburg-that serves as its backdrop. Throughout, Akhmatova crafts a world teetering on the edge of apocalypse, both personal and collective, painting a picture of despair that is both intimate and grandiose.

The Neva River becomes a symbol of unbearable memories and the passage of time, forcing the speaker to confront the past: "Not in vain am I known as the grieving one / Since the time you appeared to me." The river, usually a source of life and vitality, becomes instead a trigger for sorrow and loss, as the speaker feels connected to it in their grief.

Akhmatova's use of religious and apocalyptic imagery-"The black angels' wings are sharp, / Judgment Day is coming soon"-elevates personal heartbreak to the level of a cosmic event. This aligns with a key aspect of her work, which often melds the private and the public, the individual and the universal. Her poem can be read both as a story of personal loss and a narrative of the collective anxieties of her era. Given Akhmatova's lifetime, which spanned both World Wars, the Russian Revolution, and the Stalinist era, the apocalyptic imagery may mirror the societal upheavals that she witnessed.

The poem culminates with an eerie vision: "And raspberry-colored bonfires bloom, / Like roses, in the snow." The clash of vibrant red and pure white offers a dissonance that disquiets the reader. Bonfires and roses, symbols of destruction and beauty respectively, coalesce in an unnerving union, akin to how the speaker's grief and love are intermingled in their mind. The disquieting coexistence of opposing elements encapsulates the internal conflict haunting the speaker.

Stylistically, the poem employs concise, simple language, which makes its complex emotional undercurrents all the more jarring. The terse sentences and sharp imagery align well with the poem's theme of impending doom, imbuing it with a sense of urgency. Akhmatova's structure is straightforward, allowing the weight of the poem to rest on its thematic and emotional complexity.

The poem stands as a testament to Akhmatova's ability to distill complex emotional states into simple yet evocative language and images. In "How Can You Look at the Neva," she captures the essence of sorrow and impending doom in the face of inescapable memories and settings, connecting personal emotional landscapes to broader social and even cosmic contexts. With its vivid imagery and deep emotional resonance, the poem remains an impactful meditation on the ways in which places can be imbued with memories and meanings that haunt us, even as the world around us teeters on the brink of change.

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