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# Anna Akhmatova's 1934 poem on the smell of blood, the Roman governor and the Scottish queen
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/privolem-pakhnet-dikii-med-pyl-solnechnym-luchom-fialkoiu-devichii-rot-a-zoloto-nichem/
- Published: 2022-03-03T07:15:20.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:52:48.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books

Wild honey smells of open space,  
Dust, of a sunbeam,  
A girl's mouth, of the violet,  
And gold, of nothing at all.  
Mignonette smells of water,  
And love, of an apple.  
But we have learned for ever  
That blood smells only of blood…

*Literal translation*

And in vain the governor of Rome  
Washed his hands before all the people,  
Amid the ominous cries of the mob;  
And the Scottish queen  
In vain from her narrow palms  
Wiped away the red spatters  
In the stifling gloom of the royal house…

*Literal translation*

Anna Akhmatova, 1934