Wild honey smells of freedom The dust - of sunlight The mouth of a young girl, like a violet But gold - smells of nothing.
Anna AkhmatovaRead
I myself, from the very beginning, Seemed to myself like someone's dream or delirium Or a reflection in someone else's mirror, Without flesh, without meaning, without a name. Already I knew the list of crimes That I was destined to commit.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the nature of identity and existential angst, suggesting a feeling of being unreal or lacking true essence.
In this quote, Anna Akhmatova expresses a profound sense of alienation and introspection. She conveys feelings of being like an apparition, devoid of substance and individuality, as if perceiving herself through the distorted lens of another's perspective. This resonates with themes of existential dread where one contemplates their purpose and the weight of their predetermined fate, symbolized by the acknowledgment of the 'list of crimes' she anticipates committing.
Themes
IdentityExistentialismAlienationIntrospectionFate
In practice
Example use cases
During a literary discussion on existential themes, this quote can illustrate the feeling of disconnection from oneself.
More from Anna Akhmatova
All quotes →And you know, I agree to everything: I will condemn, I will forget, I will give comfort to the enemy, Darkness will be light and sin lovely.
Anna AkhmatovaRead
Who will grieve for this woman? Does she not seem too insignificant for our concern? Yet in my heart I never will deny her, Who suffered death because she chose to turn.
Anna AkhmatovaRead
If you were music I would listen to you ceaselessly And my low spirits would brighten up.
Anna AkhmatovaRead
Not, not mine: it's somebody else's wound; I could never have borne it. So take the thing that happened, hide it, stick it in the ground; whisk the lamps away.
Anna AkhmatovaRead
I know beginnings, I know endings too, and life-in-death, and something else I'd rather not recall just now.
Anna AkhmatovaRead
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