Beaverdam Press (1 results)

No Binding. Condition: Collectible-Fine. Limited Edition. One of 85 copies printed. Original broadside printed on gray paper in black ink. Deckled edge. 9 3/4" x 13." Broadside is virtually pristine and intact. A Fine copy. Colophon printed at the bottom: "Translated by Greg Simon, printed at The Beaverdam Press of Salem, Oregon, 1992, for Charles Seluzicki, Fine Books, Portland, Oregon. In an edition of 85 copies." A beautiful, printed broadside featuring the poem, The City of Granite (1915), by Anna Akhmatova. Anna Akhmatova (1899-1966) was a Russian poet who was among the most notable during the twentieth century. She was nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Akhmatova was part of the Silver Age of Russian Poetry and established herself in literary circles as a member of the acmeists or Guild of Poets. She was commended for her original style exhibiting concision and emotional restraint. Her meteoric rise to success came to a crashing halt with the beginning of the Russian Revolution in 1917 and subsequent years of sociopolitical unrest and turmoil. Akhmatova, her literary friends, and family members were mercilessly censored and persecuted. Many did not survive the Great Terror of Joseph Stalin's regime. A few escaped and remained in exile. However, Akhmatova was adamant about staying in Russia and continued to write and publish her works. Perhaps her best-known poem is Requiem, which explicitly denounces the Great Purge. Akhmatova was widely praised in other countries for her writings, and with political change over the years, eventually in the Soviet Union albeit with continued censorship of many of her works. In her later years, Akhmatova inspired a new generation of poets and was published up until 1965, just a year before her passing. This poem, The City of Granite, likely refers to St. Petersburg, as Akhmatova referred to the city by this name in other instances. The poem contrasts a peaceful, picturesque setting with that of the titular "City of Granite" bereft of its full potential amid a backdrop of bleakness, sorrow, and troubling times. Given the original publication year of 1915, the poem may refer to the political upheaval and ongoing conflicts in Russia at the time. The first few lines of The City of Granite: "You know that simple life continues / Somewhere, in transparent light, warm and joyous, / Where a girl and her neighbor lean across / The fence rails in the twilight, the noise / Of their tender speech, the late-flying bees . / But our live are difficult and solemn, .".