Chloe Smyth blogs her analysis and interpretation of ‘He Loved Three Things’ by Anna Akhmatova

Akhmatova: An interpretation and analysis of ‘He Loved Three Things’

 

One of my favourite types of poetry is Russian poetry; I absolutely love the works of Pushkin, Tolstoy and a poet named Anna Akhmatova, a lesser known poet to Western audiences, but one who is completely loved by Russian culture. Anna Akhmatova was a Ukranian-born poet who moved to Russia for the majority of her life. She is a modernist poet who wrote throughout the first half of the 19th century. After procuring a book filled with some of her most famous poems, I settled upon one which I found very poignant, intimate and rather unknown to be my favourite; this was Akhmatova’s poem “He Loved Three Things”. Throughout this poem, Akhmatova describes her relationship with her husband, or more specifically, her husband’s likes and dislikes. Below is Akhmatova’s poem with the translation:

 

Он любил три вещи на свете:

He loved three things in this world:

За вечерней пенье, белых павлинов

Evensong, white peacocks,

И стертые карты Америки.

And faded maps of America.

Не любил, когда плачут дети,

He didn’t like when children cried,

Не любил чая с малиной

He didn’t like his tea with raspberry jam

И женской истерики-

And female hysteria

…А я была его женой.

…And I was his wife.

 

Firstly, we can ascertain a lot from Akhmatova’s title of the poem: “He Loved Three Things”. From “loved” being in the past tense, this suggests that her husband no longer loves these things; upon first reading this poem I thought perhaps she has lost him as a husband through a divorce or something along that nature given the tone throughout the poem. However, upon further research I found that she had three husbands, all of whom died before she did. As this poem was published in 1912, it is hard to ascertain which of the husbands she is identifying, however we know she is speaking from loss. This makes this even more poignant as it emphasises Akhmatova’s pain within the first two words of the poem. She continues to state that her husband only loved “three things”. This line is very specific in its nature, and because of it being so specific, it suggests that her husband only had enough room in his heart to love these three things and nothing more. It therefore raises the question as to whether Akhmatova was one of them. She swiftly answers this through the next part of the poem.

 

The first of what her husband loved was “evensong”, rather unsurprising for a male Russian at the time this poem was written. Given that the poem was from 1912 and therefore Russia was under the reign of the extremely pious Nicholas II, this suggests that Russian Orthodoxy was still a large part of society in Russia, making it completely likely that going to church was a large part of Akhmatova and her husband’s life. This also uncovers quite a bit from her husband; we can tell he is religious, and a devout christian with a love for beautifully sung music. This suggests that maybe he had an air of delicacy about him and definitely the ability to love through his evident enjoyment of hymns. Akhmatova describes the second thing her husband loved as being “white peacocks”. Through the peacocks being described as “white’, this suggests that he loved purity and through the animal of choice being a “peacock” this suggests he loves delicacy once more. Moreover, white peacocks were commonly regarded as a symbol of immortality within religion, and the white peacock became a famous symbol of Easter within the East. This once again reiterates his love for religion, and it is clear this is an important part of his life. The next thing in Akhmatova’s list does not fit the semantic field we started to see forming of religion, but it is of cartophilia, stating he loved “faded maps of America”. The adjective “faded” depicts maps which have been studied or used countless times to the point where one can no longer properly see the land, suggesting that this man perhaps had a dream of visiting America and travelling its land, and lived this dream through his antique maps. During this particular time in Russia without any Cold War tensions, it was not uncommon for Russians to yearn for the West and for its ideologies and freedoms. This emphasises this idea of this man’s dream being utterly essential and important to him.

 

Akhmatova continues to state what her husband hated, starting by stating that he hated “crying children”. The use of consonant alliteration here even depicts his hatred as the words are hard sounding and nearly spat out. What this also uncovers is that he clearly dislikes any show of outward emotion, perhaps suggesting he is a stoical character that does not care for melodrama. Akhmatova continues, stating he doesn’t enjoy the combination of “tea with raspberry jam”. What this adds to is one simple fact: he was an extremely particular fellow who only enjoyed things as he liked to have them. This suggests how he was rather difficult to live with; you can almost envision the disappointment on his face as his wife dared to give him raspberry jam and tea simultaneously. She continues to state that he hates “female hysteria”. Once again, we can see this man’s hatred for melodrama and eccentric displays of emotion. One critic suggested that these were not the words of the speaker, but the repeated phrase of her husband, an idea I particularly liked; it suggests Akhmatova’s irritance with the phrase, but also suggests her powerlessness to stand up for herself, again another common trait of the perception of wives in early 20th century Russia. Finally, Akhmatova ends her poem with one simple, punchy line: “…And I was his wife”. By beginning this line with an ellipsis, it allows the reader to let all the information she has given us to assimilate into our minds. From doing this, it makes the last line so much more poignant. By the simple statement “and I was his wife”, this suggests that Akhmatova encompasses all the things that her husband hated. It portrays how she did not fit in with his likes, but instead it suggests that she felt as though she represented all the things he never liked. To me, the tone of this final line is heartbreaking; all you can hear is her hopelessness. It is this final line which makes this poem so moving.

 

In summary, it is clear Akhmatova slightly resents her husband however we can also hear her slight disappointment in herself for not being what he wanted in the final line. I believe Akhmatova’s writing is utterly brilliant and completely moving, and I can’t wait to read and analyse more.

By Chloe Smyth