Requiem, Anna Akhmatova’s most respected poem, documents the suffering of the Russian under Joseph Stalin. The whole poem unfolds with the inner monologue of Akhmatova, reflecting her experiences of loss and suffering. Through using the techniques of allusion, pathetic fallacy, and imagery in Requiem, Anna Akhmatova emphasizes the extent of grief experienced by her and the other suffering women. This, in turn, enables readers to understand that “Requiem” is written to not only be in remembrance of the grief and suffering that of Akhmatova alone, but of an entire nation during Stalin’s reign of terror. (all the victims affected by)

The technique of pathetic fallacy serves to accentuate the numbing of feelings in the Russian people and Akhmatova. They have been dehumanized to the point that they lack the ability of feeling and are thus forced to express their grief through the personification of nature. Under the Stalinist regime, the Russian people have no freedom of expression in any shape or form. Dissendents, anyone whose ideas appear contrary to those of the government’s, will be subjected to persecution. The land and city convey the suffering of the Russian people for them as they have by no means, any way of expressing their feelings. As Akhmatova states in “Dedication,” the intensity of grief is so great that it “would lay a mountain low” (line 1, “Dedication”, “Requiem), and “would make the rush of mighty rivers cease” (line 2, “Dedication”, “Requiem). By describing the changes to the height of the mountains and the speed of the mighty rivers, the speaker emphasized the wide expanse of grief. Nature is made to mourn and the grief felt by the people is so devastating that even the tall mountains and mighty rivers react to the grief. Grief is so powerful that it can disrupt and destroy nature’s geographical features. In addition to nature, the man-made environment of Leningrad is made to grieve. In “Prologue,” Leningrad is described as dangling from its prisons. Leningrad is seen as “dangled,” as buildings are replaced with prisons and the city is pictured as a dead place, grieving for the once lively and warm Leningrad. This emphasizes that the loss and suffering of the people are due to man-made causes. Geographic features are also used to express grief and suffering in “To Death.” The Yenisei “runs swift and cold” (line 15, “To Death”, “Requiem”), and the North Star “gleams above” (line 16, “To Death”, “Requiem”). In contrast to the “Dedication” stanza in which depicts the low mountains and the mighty rivers ceasing, nature is seen to continue without interuption, as if nothing has occured. The North Star still shines and the Yenisei River continues to flow. This suggests that nature is only affected by the loss and suffering of the women as a whole and not only of Akhmatova’s loss and suffering alone. Through the city and nature partaking in their grief, those who suffered are able to voice out their grief.

Concrete is

Akhmatova utilizes biblical allusions to portray her and the suffering women’s grief and to draw similarities between the unjust suffering of Christ and that of her own son. In the Bible, Christ was falsely convicted and crucified in front of his mother. Akhmatova’s son went through the same steps. A shift of focus from the suffering of Christ to the emotions of the women who watched the crucifixion can be seen in the transition from part one to part two in section ten, “Crucifixion.” In part two, the narrator mentions Mary Magdalene and Christ’s mother, Virgin Mary. Mary Magdalene is pictured beating her breast and crying, whereas as the Mother just stood there. The loss of a son is so powerful of an emotion that no one would look at Mother Mary and witness her grief. The grief is so indescribable that Mother Mary could only stand there in silence. This represents the grief felt by Akhmatova and all the other women who watched their sons and loved ones being treated unjustly, and they stood, not being able to do anything in their power. By switching from first-person narrative to the third person omniscient narrator in “Crucifixion,” Akhmatova removes herself from the narrative, allowing readers to place themselves in the metaphor of As Akhmatova becomes a symbol of Mary’s suffering, so does she represent her people’s suffering.