Introduction (Requiem) That was a time, when only the dead Smiled, glad to have peace. And Leningrad Swung from its prisons Like an unused limb. And when gone mad from suffering, The condemned regiments were started off, And the whistles of the  locomotives Sang short songs of parting. Over us were stars of death, And innocent Russia Struggled under the bloodied boot, And the tires of the Black Maria. by Anna Ahkmatova March 1940 Translated by Lenore Mayhew and William McNaughton Return to Akhmatova Index Return to Russian Poets index