Here Pushkin's Endless Exile Begins (Здесь Пушкина изгнанье началось) was written by Anna Akhmatova in 1927 in the city of Kislovodsk. Below is the original Russian text, followed by an English translation.
Здесь Пушкина изгнанье началось
И Лермонтова кончилось изгнанье.
Здесь горных трав легко благоуханье,
И только раз мне видеть удалось
У озера, в густой тени чинары,
В тот предвечерний и жестокий час —
Сияние неутоленных глаз
Бессмертного любовника Тамары.
And Pushkin's exile had begun right here,
And Lermontov's expulsion had been «canceled.»
There is the easy grasses' scent on highland.
And only once it chanced to me to see it —
Near the lake, where shades of plane-trees hover,
In that doom hour before the evening thrusts, —
The dazzling light of the desirous eyes
Of Tamara's forever living lover.
Anna Akhmatova, the author of this piece, was born on June 11, 1899, in present-day Odesa, Ukraine. She became a prominent member of the "Silver Age" of Russian Poetry. All poets from the "Silver Age" learned about, and drew inspiration from the literary geniuses of the "Golden Age", like Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, and more. Akhmatova wrote this poem, "Here Pushkin's Endless Exile Begins" (Здесь Пушкина изгнанье началось), as an ode to poetry and her inspiration. She mentions writers, Pushkin and Lermontov, and a famous character from one of Lermontov's works, Tamara.
In the poem, Akhmatova seems to be describing a physical location. However, she is actually describing poetry itself. When she talks about poetry, instead of using the word poetry, she uses the word here. It is important to note the use of the word "here". She chooses the word "here" because the definition of here is "in or at this place," and the place that here is referring to is poetry since this takes place in a poem. She states, "Pushkin's exile had begun right here," which explains that when Pushkin was exiled in 1820, he spent most of his time writing poetry, therefore his exile had begun, and stayed in poetry. Many other notable poets have referred to poetry as a physical place, a famous example can be seen in Emily Dickinson's "I dwell in Possibility."
Akhmatova goes on to explain how she perceives poetry. She perceives it as a large, beautiful, and everlasting place filled with every detail or character that has ever been written. To demonstrate this, Akhmatova states that "There is the easy grasses' scent on highland," and that there is a "lake, where shades of plane-trees hover." To show that poetry lives on forever, she mentions "The dazzling light of the desirous eyes of Tamara's forever living lover," which is a reference to Tamara in Lermontov's poem "Demon" (демон).
It is important to view poetry as Akhmatova does, even after almost 100 years, if not more so. As technology advanced, love and care for poetry has diminished. This is dangerous because poetry provides hope and empowers its readers. If poetry is lost, who knows what will come of society. On the other hand, if more people begin viewing poetry for the timeless beauty it truly possesses, people will become more empowered and will be able to further develop society further than previously imaginable.
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