Anna akhmatova poem prayer with analysis. Prayer Akhmatova verse Akhmatov give me bitter years of illness

Reading the verse "Prayer" by Anna Andreevna Akhmatova was worth all of her contemporaries. Although it is rather small in content (only eight lines), however, it carries a huge meaning. The title of the work coincides with its content. This is really a prayer. Anna Andreevna turns to God in it. She asks him to take everything that she has: a friend, and a son, and health, and even her poetic gift, but only to save Russia. In the end, this is what happens. The war ends, however, immediately after it, a revolution takes place in Russia. Her husband is executed, her son is arrested. Anna Andreevna is sick a lot. Only one thing God leaves her, namely her poetic gift.

The text of Akhmatova's poem "Prayer" was written in 1915. At this time, the First World War was going on. Initially, she wanted to send him to the front to her husband Nikolai Gumilyov, but then changed her mind. Anna Andreevna was afraid that he would consider this a betrayal, because in the verse she, one might say, renounced him.

The work is studied at a literature lesson in grade 11. It can be read completely online on our website. If the school was asked to learn a verse, then it can be downloaded for free on a phone, smartphone or other device.

Prayer Akhmatova verse

Anna Andreevna Akhmatova's poem "Prayer" was written in a very difficult period. At this time, Russia took an active part in the hostilities of the First World War. Anna Andreevna's husband, Nikolai Gumilyov, volunteered for the army. Akhmatova's ironic attitude towards war as a man's toy gradually changed to horror. Before her eyes were the crippled soldiers returning home. The poetess was shocked to the depths of her soul by the tragedy that befell people. In 1915, she wrote the poem "Prayer", originally it was intended for her husband, but Akhmatova did not dare to send a letter with him. She was embarrassed to realize that many wives are praying for the speedy return of their husbands, and in her work she proclaims her readiness to sacrifice everything in the name of the victory of Russia.

The theme of the poem is an appeal to the tragic fate of the motherland. The poetess begs the higher powers to take everything from her: her health, talent, beloved friend, child - in exchange for the freedom and independence of her native land. The main idea is a sense of deep responsibility for Russia. To sacrifice all the dearest that a lyrical hero has in the name of his homeland is the desire of a true patriot who wants to take part in the fate of his homeland in the most severe times.

The composition of the poem resembles a prayer of a believer, an appeal to the Lord. Suffering from the fact that she cannot provide other assistance to her native land, the lyrical heroine sacrifices everything for the good of Russia.

The poem was written in tricycle anapest, using cross rhyme. Male and female rhymes alternate. This gives the work a melodious sound, which brings it closer to the genre of prayer. In order to convey her emotions and blood ties with her homeland, Akhmatova uses various epithets ("bitter years", "mysterious gift"). The metaphors used in this small volume of work amaze with their wealth and beauty ("For a cloud over dark Russia // Become a cloud in the glory of rays").

Anna Andreevna Akhmatova's appeal to higher powers did not go unanswered. The war ended, the bloodshed stopped, the poetess's wish came true. But she had to pay a very high price for this. Her life was very difficult, this strong woman had to go through a lot: the execution of Nikolai Gumilyov, the arrest of her son, hunger, illness, poverty, constant persecution. The words of the poet's prayer were fulfilled. As a reward for her passionate love for her homeland, God left her only her poetic gift, accepting all the other sacrifices.

Prayer

The text of Akhmatova's poem "Prayer" was written in 1915. At this time, the First World War was going on. Initially, she wanted to send him to the front to her husband Nikolai Gumilyov, but then changed her mind. Anna Andreevna was afraid that he would consider this a betrayal, because in the verse she, one might say, renounced him.

The work is studied at a literature lesson in grade 11. It can be read completely online on our website. If the school was asked to learn a verse, then it can be downloaded for free on a phone, smartphone or other device.

"Prayer" A. Akhmatov

Give me the bitter years of sickness

Choking, insomnia, fever,

Fire up both the child and the friend,

And the mysterious gift of song -

So I pray for Your liturgy

So that a cloud over dark Russia

Became a cloud in the glory of the rays.

Analysis of Akhmatva's poem "Prayer"

The First World War, in which Russia was involved in 1914, radically changed the lives of many people. Among them was Anna Akhmatova, who during this period realized that her family, which she dreamed of so much, actually exists only on paper. The thing is that the husband of the poetess Nikolai Gumilyov volunteered for the army at the earliest opportunity, which aroused Akhmatova's indignation. She understood that someone must defend her homeland at a time when mortal danger loomed over her. However, it was obvious that Gumilev was driven not so much by patriotic feelings as by the desire to run away from home and leave his family for new adventures. Akhmatova herself for a long time perceived the war as some kind of entertainment for men. And only in the middle of 1915, when crippled soldiers from among her close friends began to return home, and funerals came to many houses, Akhmatova realized the horror of what was happening. She no longer joked about the fact that men go to war to get rid of annoying wives, and radically changed her attitude towards fighting. Realizing that there would be no return to a past life, calm and serene, Akhmatova nevertheless dreamed that the bloody massacre, which had managed to take thousands of human lives, would end. Moreover, the poetess hoped for the victory of the Russian troops, at some point she acutely felt that she was the true daughter of her people, who became a patriot even before she learned to speak. She was ready to give everything she had in order for Russia to preserve its independence.

In 1915, Akhmatova wrote a short poem, which she plans to send to the front for Gumilyov. However, at the last moment, he decides not to do this, as he feels like a traitor in relation to his spouse. At the moment when many women are praying that their husbands will return from the war safe and sound, Akhmatova is ready to make a bloody and terrible sacrifice, exclaiming: "Take away both the child and the friend." By a friend, the poetess means Gumilyov, for whom she has very warm feelings, but has not considered him her husband for a long time. In addition, Akhmatova is ready to sacrifice her own health and well-being, and also agrees to live the rest of her days in sorrow and poverty. The poet is ready to sacrifice even her “mysterious gift of song”, for which she prays to God during the liturgy. In return, Akhmatova asks for only one thing - "that a cloud over dark Russia become a cloud in the glory of rays."

True believers are well aware that the Lord hears the prayers of each of us. Therefore, even if Akhmatova flirted with the Almighty, she was well aware that her request could be fulfilled, albeit not quite the way the poetess wants it. The war really ended, albeit without a brilliant victory for Russia. However, the truce was concluded after the Great October Revolution, and the bloody communist terror became a kind of payment for getting rid of an external enemy. Akhmatova herself also had to make more than one sacrifice on the altar of peaceful life. First of all, we are talking about Nikolai Gumilyov, who was shot in 1921. The poet's son Lev Gumilyov also visited the prison twice. The poet's prayer was really heard, and she lived a very difficult life, going through persecution and persecution, serious illness and poverty. The only thing that the Lord left for Akhmatova was her amazing poetic gift, which became her reward for her belief in the steadfastness of Russia, patriotism and a clear separation of such concepts as "homeland" and "state".

In 1915, Akhmatova's poem was published, which was called "Prayer". This poem has conquered the world to some extent. Because the poetess lived at a time when it was difficult for everyone, including her. She did not stand aside, on the contrary, she felt everything with her soul, with all her heart, as well.

That is why, according to critics, her work, which is not so large in its size, still conquers all those who read her work, which can be considered a work of art. So, the poem itself consists of eight lines, and besides, it is rhymed of a very high quality, and it is pleasant to read not only in meaning, but also because rhyme is doubly beautiful and pleasant.

1915 was a difficult year, because the First World War began a year ago, it was already underway, and there was no one for it - it was not bearable. In those days, many men went to war, almost none of the male population was left, only children and old people. Some women - everything is in their hands. That is why the poem is called "Prayer". After all, when it is difficult - and there is a war in the world - you begin to pray, sincerely and sincerely, because it seems as if this is the last hope to save yourself and your loved ones.

This word - the word prayer in itself determines the name of the genre - prayer. The prayer verse is very powerful in every sense of the word. Because he put pressure on the feelings of people, forcing them to cry, to feel guilty that none of the mere mortals, it would seem, can stop this terrible war, because living like that becomes unbearable.

Anna Akhmatova well understood and shared the feelings of people, and not only in those days, but even earlier. That is why she is still considered and will be considered a very famous and great poetess of her times. But even now, her works have a very good influence on us, ordinary people.

Akhmatova's poem "Prayer" was able to conquer the world, because every person is at least a little familiar with this feeling - a feeling of horror at something that cannot be turned away. The poetess was able to touch the most delicate and sensitive strings of our soul - the human soul, and therefore very vulnerable.

In the work, the story is not conducted on behalf of the author, but on behalf of an unknown lyrical hero, and it is this character, who seems to us to be one of the victims of that time, from whom a brother, husband or son was taken away - simply prays to God that everything finally it ended, and in the world - there was silence, calmness, and everything returned again - as it was before.

Anna Akhmatova is a great poet of those times.

Analysis of the poem Prayer according to plan

Analysis of the author's poems:

You may be interested

The poem "Star" was written in 1824. It tells about the night sky, in which many luminous stars are concentrated. There are so many of them that it is proposed to choose one and give it a name.

His work "I survived my desires" A.S. Pushkin wrote in 1821, when he was in southern exile. This time turned out to be a difficult period for the poet, since the circumstances of his life

Mayakovsky was an extraordinary personality and an outstanding poet. He often raised simple human themes in his works. One of them is pity and sympathy for the fate of the horse that fell in the middle of the square, in his poem "Good attitude to horses."

A person is engaged in the search for happiness all his life. Everyone is looking for happiness in something of their own: in the family, in work, in dreams, in ideas, in helping others. The lyrical hero Lermontov comprehends true happiness, contemplating the nature around him.

One of the most sensual and beautiful poems by Alexander Blok. Not many people know that the early poetry of the poet concerned landscapes, nature, feelings. Such works of Blok show him from a completely different side.

Anna Akhmatova

Choking, insomnia, fever,

Fire up both the child and the friend,

And the mysterious gift of song -

So I pray for Your liturgy

After so many weary days

So that a cloud over dark Russia

Became a cloud in the glory of the rays.

The poem "Prayer" was written in 1915 and was included in the third collection of poems by Anna Akhmatova "White flock", released shortly before the revolution in September 1917.

Texts of works, photographs, autographs and additional information to the poems

for our "Collection", provided by the literary portal "Poems of the 19-20 centuries"

Prayer Akhmatova verse

Moscow, "Citadel", 1996.

• “There was a voice for me. He called out comfortingly.

When in anguish of suicide The people were waiting for the German guests, And the harsh spirit of Byzantineism flew away from the Russian Church.

Analysis of Akhmatova's poem Prayer

Analysis of the poem by Anna Akhmatova "Prayer"

The First World War left its mark on many families. She did not bypass the life of Anna Akhmatova, since Nikolai Gumilyov, the poet's husband, passed the front roads. It was these difficult years of struggle with the enemy that became the basis for the creation of the poetic masterpiece "Prayer".

This lyric poetry in eight lines saw the world in 1915 and focused on the feelings of the person of art during this difficult period. Such people considered themselves guilty that they could not rebel against this massacre, which had engulfed almost the entire world.

The title of the poem is laconic: "Prayer". It was this word that determined the genre of the work. This prayer verse is a direct appeal to the Lord, an ardent prayer for the future. The plot of poetry is constructed in such a way that the greatest tension is felt in the first lines - the climax. The heroine of the work is a delicate lyrical nature, she is ready to sacrifice things dear to her heart for the good of her homeland and people.

With pain, she begs the Lord for the “bitter years of illness” with shortness of breath, fever and insomnia. Then she sends an expressive exclamation to God: "Fire up both the child and the friend," and after that Muse is generally ready to give up her "singing gift" in order for a unique reincarnation to take place: the "cloud" that rose "over dark Russia" turned into a cloud "In the glory of the rays."

Anna Akhmatova herself sincerely believed in God and in the power of prayer words. With some sixth sense, the poetess realized that everything she asked for would come true without fail. And so it happened: the peace was signed, the end of the war saved the lives of millions of people.

In her work "Prayer", the master of words showed the depth of her soul. She skillfully went beyond her own experiences and created a poetic masterpiece, which became a pretentious ode to peace and love on a light scale. This is how Akhmatova appears to us as a sincere patriot of her homeland. The poetic dimension of the work is a three-foot anapest, a cross rhyme, alternating rhyme (female - male).

Compositionally, the poem is built like a supplication, which is emphasized by the verbs "give", "take away". After all, Akhmatova understood the seriousness of the war only when she saw the horror going on with her own eyes. She could not believe that the former calm life would return, so there was only hope for the Almighty.

Her "Prayer" is the prayer of many women whose husbands were at the front. For the sake of their beloved, they, like the poet herself, are ready to sacrifice themselves and their well-being, agreeing to live in poverty.

A. Akhmatova "Prayer". Analysis of the poem?

Anna Andreevna Akhmatova's poem "Prayer" is included in her lyric collection "White Flock", which came out after the collections "Evening" and "Rosary" and united the works of 1914-1917.

The epigraph to the book, like to the previous collections, is imbued with suffering:

But there is another motive here. In the word "light" there is a kind of dignified calmness. And a person acquires this state simultaneously with the philosophical position formed on the basis of life experience: a person must bear his cross with dignity - this is the meaning of being. This attitude is quite natural in the context of wartime - the reign of death, disease, devastation, poverty, hunger, slavery - that which destroys the whole world, all of humanity. In short eight lines, a lot of what the lyrical heroine is ready to sacrifice for a bright world, victory, and glory of her country is named.

Everything that a person lives with in ordinary times - family, favorite business, children, friends - all these values ​​significant for an individual retreat in the face of a national tragedy.

Prayer is a spell, a prayer for salvation, sanctified by a person's faith that he will be heard. In these words there is self-denial, the rejection of one's own, small, personal happiness in the name of

And there is no other way when you realize the inseparability of your fate from the fate of your Motherland. And this is not a momentary impulse, but the result of a long and hard work of the soul, a stoic decision.

The deep ideological meaning of the poem explains the solemnity of its sound. The text is full of high vocabulary: "liturgy", "ailment", "gift", "heat"; metaphors: "cloud", "cloud in the glory of rays"; the epithet “dark” in the characterization of the image of Russia is understood as “bitter, unhappy”.

The poem "Prayer" is one of the many works of A. Akhmatova, where she expresses her inseparability from the fate of the country, accepts as her own all the hardships and sufferings of her homeland.

Analysis of the poem by A. A. Akhmatova "Prayer"

Give me the bitter years of sickness

Choking, insomnia, fever,

Fire up both the child and the friend,

And the mysterious gift of song -

So I pray for Your liturgy

After so many weary days

So that a cloud over dark Russia

Became a cloud in the glory of the rays.

The poem "Prayer" is included in the collection "White flock". This is the third book of poems by Anna Andreevna Akhmatova. Prior to this, the collections "Evening" and

"White flock" includes poems from 1914 - 1917. The epigraph to the book, as in previous collections, is imbued with suffering: "I am burning and the road is bright at night." But there is not only this motive in the collection. In the last word "light" sounds some strange, dignified reassurance. And this state comes to a person when he not only gains life experience, but also finds his philosophical position in it: with a sense of dignity "to carry his cross" - and in this to see the meaning of being.

The year 1915 is the second year of the First World War. War ... This word contains the most terrible thing: death, hunger, devastation, poverty, slavery, disease - everything that brings death to the world and humanity. It, this word, does not sound in the poem, but in eight short lines a lot is named that the lyrical heroine is ready to give for a bright world, for victory, for the glory of Russia.

How does a person live on earth? What is dear to him when he does not think in everyday life about the global, significant on a global scale? Of course, favorite business, friends, home, children, peace, health ... And how much all this loses its meaning, no, it does not lose, but recedes in the face of a general tragedy.

Prayer is a spell, a plea for salvation, a belief that helps a person hope and survive. This poem contains not only self-denial, a denial of her own, personal, little happiness, which the heroine is ready to give in order to

“The cloud over dark Russia has become a cloud in the glory of the rays,” but also the realization of the inseparability of its fate from the fate of the country. And this is not an impulse, this is a stoic decision made from long agonizing days - to give everything: a gift of song, and a friend, and even a child, for common glory and victory.

This is all Akhmatova, who knows how to absorb the world and thereby make it richer.

“Condemned - and we know it ourselves - we squander, not hoard,” - what she said in the same 1915 allows her verse to gain immortality. Her poetry expresses love for the motherland, for the spiritual and moral self-standing of a person. And all this is sealed by the personality of Anna Andreevna Akhmatova herself, her honest attitude to life, to the earth, to people.

The poem "Prayer" sounds solemn, since it contains a deep ideological meaning - there is nothing more dear to a person in the world than the peaceful life of the people of his country. For this, the poet uses high vocabulary: "illness", "heat", "gift", "liturgy"; metaphors: "cloud", "cloud in the glory of rays"; the epithet "dark" in relation to Russia should be understood as bitter, unhappy.

This is one of the poems, which expresses not only the human, but also the civic essence of the poet A.A. Akhmatova.

Prayer for the salvation of the native land

The poem "Prayer" contains only 8 lines and very accurately corresponds to its name. This is precisely prayer - an ardent and confidential appeal to God. The lyrical heroine Akhmatova is ready to sacrifice everything so that the cloud hanging over Russia “becomes a cloud in the glory of rays”. She asks God to send her "bitter years of illness" and agrees to give him "both a child and a friend." For the sake of the well-being of her native country, the lyric heroine, merging with Akhmatova herself, is ready to give even her talent - “a mysterious song gift”.

The contrast between a black cloud and a "cloud in the glory of rays" goes back to biblical images, where the first metaphor is the embodiment of a terrible, sinister force that brings death, and the second is addressed to Christ himself, sitting in the cloud of glory. I must say that Anna Andreevna was a deeply religious person and understood the power of the word that resounds in prayer. She was well aware that what was said in a prayer impulse very often came true.

The power of the poetic word

As surprising as it may seem, everything really came true. The First World War ended, but it was replaced by revolution and civil war. First, on charges of participating in a counter-revolutionary conspiracy, Akhmatova's husband, Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov, was shot, then his son, Lev Gumilyov, was arrested. God accepted her enormous sacrifice. Only one thing he did not take away from Akhmatova - an amazing "song gift", which, perhaps, helped her to survive the hardest trials that fell to her lot. In her lyrical works, Anna Andreevna constantly conducts a dialogue with some imaginary interlocutor. An invisible interlocutor who knows all the secrets of the heroine is also present in Prayer. However, now the poem takes on a completely different, universal scale, because the lyrical heroine turns to God himself.

The metaphor underlying the ending is very beautiful and visually perceptible. As if in front of the reader's eyes, the sun's rays pierce the black cloud, and it suddenly turns into a dazzlingly beautiful, sparkling cloud.

Quivering, sublime love, deep, sincere faith and a powerful poetic word are inseparable in Akhmatova's poetry. Love for her is not only a tender relationship between a man and a woman, but also sacrificial love for the motherland, and Christian love for God. That is why the very small poem "Prayer" is endowed with such a deep inner strength.

Reasons for expulsion: why every fifth student does not graduate

According to statistics, 21% of students at Russian universities “fall short” of receiving a diploma, interrupting their studies. Why is this.

Not registered yet?

Ideological analysis of Akhmatova's poem "Prayer"

It is appropriate to start the analysis of Akhmatova's poem "Prayer" with a replica of her great contemporary - Osip Mandelstam. Once he noticed that Anna Andreevna's poetry is close to becoming one of the symbols of the greatness of Russia. The poet's mission became the defining, deep meaning of her life.

Prerequisites for creation, genre analysis of the poem "Prayer"

Akhmatova wrote this small lyrical work in 1915, during the most difficult years of the First World War, on the fronts of which her husband, the poet Nikolai Gumilyov, fought with the enemy. The war, of course, was the tragedy of the century, and people of art felt this especially keenly. And it was they who were tormented by a sense of guilt for not being able to withstand the spiritual and moral fall, expressed in the “apocalyptic” massacre that swept the world and destroyed Russia.

Compositionally, this small, eight lines poem corresponds to the genre declared in its title: prayer. This is a truly confidential and ardent appeal to God, a prayer that begins with a climax. The lyrical heroine sacrifices the most precious for the welfare of the homeland. She asks God for "bitter years of illness", reinforcing the prayer with expressive details: "suffocation, insomnia, fever." Then the poet's muse goes even further - asks the Almighty: "Open up both the child and the friend." She is finally ready to sacrifice the most expensive one: “a mysterious song gift” in exchange for the desired miraculous transformation “a cloud over dark Russia has become a cloud in the glory of rays”. The poetic antithesis of a cloud over the country and a cloud in the glory of rays appeals to the biblical opposition, where the first is a metaphor for an evil force that brings death (as, for example, in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, ch. 38, p. 9), and the second is addressed to Christ sitting in the cloud of glory.

Analysis of Akhmatova's poem "Prayer": the power of patriotic impulse

Anna Andreevna was a deeply religious person and well understood the power of the word spoken in prayer. What was the spiritual tension that broke through these expressive lines? Internal struggle, throwing, doubts - everything is behind, and now this sacrificial liturgical petition sounds. She could not help but realize that everything said would come true. And it came true. A peace agreement was signed, the war ended - though not with glory for Russia, but saving millions of lives, resting after long exhausting days and nights. And soon a revolution broke out, a civil war. Akhmatova's husband, Nikolai Gumilyov, was shot on a fictitious sentence for his relationship with the White Guards, her son was arrested. Personal tragedy was aggravated by the horror of the bloody terror of the Bolsheviks. What Anna Akhmatova wrote about has come to pass. Prayer (the analysis of the poem confirms this) not only demonstrated the power of the poetic word, but confirmed the feature that distinguishes the verses of this deep poet: the ability to go beyond the intimate psychological sphere and rise to a poetic declaration of love in its global manifestation. This is true patriotism and real piercing love for your country.

Lyric language

God did not take one away from Akhmatova - an original poetic gift that became a precious asset to Russia, which she loved so much. A characteristic feature of her lyrics is a dialogue with an imaginary interlocutor. This artistic device is present in her early poems, in which the lyrical heroine explains herself with her beloved or describes her inner state. Analysis of Akhmatova's poem "Prayer" makes it clear: now a new scale and intonation appear in her creative range. But the poetics does not change. There is still an invisible interlocutor who knows all her secrets and details of her life and who has the power to decide her fate. And the finale of the work turns out to be just as capacious and imaginative as in all previous and subsequent verses: a visually perceptible and striking beauty picture of a magnificent and familiar to every person metamorphosis, when a dark cloud suddenly pierces from within the sun's rays, and it suddenly turns into a dazzling shining cloud.

Finally

In the work of Anna Andreevna Akhmatova, word, faith and love are inseparable. She understood love in a Christian way: it is both a reverent relationship between two people, and an ardent, sacrificial love for the homeland and people. Analysis of Akhmatova's poem "Prayer" at one time led the poet Naum Korzhavin to the conclusion that her lyrics make it possible to call this great woman in the full sense of the word a folk poet.

"Prayer" Anna Akhmatova

Give me the bitter years of sickness
Choking, insomnia, fever,
Fire up both the child and the friend,
And the mysterious gift of song -
So I pray for Your liturgy
After so many weary days
So that a cloud over dark Russia
Became a cloud in the glory of the rays.

Analysis of Akhmatva's poem "Prayer"

The First World War, in which Russia was involved in 1914, radically changed the lives of many people. Among them was Anna Akhmatova, who during this period realized that her family, which she dreamed of so much, actually exists only on paper. The thing is that the husband of the poetess Nikolai Gumilyov volunteered for the army at the earliest opportunity, which aroused Akhmatova's indignation. She understood that someone must defend her homeland at a time when mortal danger loomed over her. However, it was obvious that Gumilev was driven not so much by patriotic feelings as by the desire to run away from home and leave his family for new adventures. Akhmatova herself for a long time perceived the war as some kind of entertainment for men. And only in the middle of 1915, when crippled soldiers from among her close friends began to return home, and funerals came to many houses, Akhmatova realized the horror of what was happening. She no longer joked about the fact that men go to war to get rid of annoying wives, and radically changed her attitude towards fighting. Realizing that there would be no return to a past life, calm and serene, Akhmatova nevertheless dreamed that the bloody massacre, which had managed to take thousands of human lives, would end. Moreover, the poetess hoped for the victory of the Russian troops, at some point she acutely felt that she was the true daughter of her people, who became a patriot even before she learned to speak. She was ready to give everything she had in order for Russia to preserve its independence.

In 1915, Akhmatova wrote a short poem, which she plans to send to the front for Gumilyov. However, at the last moment, he decides not to do this, as he feels like a traitor in relation to his spouse. At the moment when many women are praying that their husbands will return from the war safe and sound, Akhmatova is ready to make a bloody and terrible sacrifice, exclaiming: "Take away both the child and the friend." By a friend, the poetess means Gumilyov, for whom she has very warm feelings, but has not considered him her husband for a long time. In addition, Akhmatova is ready to sacrifice her own health and well-being, and also agrees to live the rest of her days in sorrow and poverty. The poet is ready to sacrifice even her “mysterious gift of song”, for which she prays to God during the liturgy. In return, Akhmatova asks for only one thing - "that a cloud over dark Russia become a cloud in the glory of rays."

True believers are well aware that the Lord hears the prayers of each of us. Therefore, even if Akhmatova flirted with the Almighty, she was well aware that her request could be fulfilled, albeit not quite the way the poetess wants it. The war really ended, albeit without a brilliant victory for Russia. However, the truce was concluded after the Great October Revolution, and the bloody communist terror became a kind of payment for getting rid of an external enemy. Akhmatova herself also had to make more than one sacrifice on the altar of peaceful life. First of all, we are talking about Nikolai Gumilyov, who was shot in 1921. The poet's son Lev Gumilyov also visited the prison twice. The poet's prayer was really heard, and she lived a very difficult life, going through persecution and persecution, serious illness and poverty. The only thing that the Lord left for Akhmatova was her amazing poetic gift, which became her reward for her belief in the steadfastness of Russia, patriotism and a clear separation of such concepts as "homeland" and "state".

Give me the bitter years of sickness
Choking, insomnia, fever,
Fire up both the child and the friend,
And the mysterious gift of song -
So I pray for Your liturgy
After so many weary days
So that a cloud over dark Russia
Became a cloud in the glory of the rays.

Analysis of the poem "Prayer" by Anna Akhmatova

The poem "Prayer" was written by Akhmatova in 1915 about the ongoing First World War. A small piece of work really resembles a prayer for emotionality and sincerity.

Akhmatova, like most people at the time, did not take seriously enough the world massacre that began in 1914. There was no doubt in Russia of a quick and decisive victory. Shapkozakidatelskie moods seized almost all strata of society. However, along with the defeats and the huge number of killed and wounded, sobering gradually came. New types of weapons, "trench warfare", the increased incidence of madness among the soldiers caused horror. The First World War marked a completely new stage in the military history of mankind. Instead of solemn patriotic appeals, works began to appear in literature against the war as a whole.

"Prayer" is Akhmatova's passionate appeal to God with a request to end an unprecedented war. The significance and power of this request can be judged by what the poetess is ready to sacrifice: “take away both the child and the friend,” even the priceless “gift of song”. If Akhmatova admits poetic exaggeration, then in any case such words are not thrown to the wind. The First World War really shocked people at the beginning of the 20th century.

For the first time, the poet felt that patriotism was not an empty word for her. Later, she proved this more than once. In contrast to the widespread appeals to end the war at any cost, Akhmatova wants only victory for Russia. Moreover, for the first time after Napoleon's invasion, the country was under the threat of losing its national independence. The poetess compares this formidable danger with an impending "cloud". In order for her to turn into a "cloud in the glory of rays", Akhmatova is ready to sacrifice absolutely everything.

According to inexplicable laws, the works of famous authors are often prophetic in nature. The most terrible lines of "Prayer" were embodied in reality. "Bitter years of illness" turned into a continuous persecution of the poet in the USSR. Akhmatova's husband was shot, and her son twice served time in the camps. The poetess retained her "singing gift", but he was squeezed into the tight confines of the Soviet censorship. "A cloud in the glory of rays" (Akhmatova's main request) rose over exhausted Russia only in 1945.