Anna Akhmatova's 1934 poem on the smell of blood, the Roman governor and the Scottish queen
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
