As Women in Translation Month continues and following the recent Q&A with Natasha Perova of Glas on contemporary Russian women fiction writers B O D Y brings you some translations of the great 20th century Russian poet Anna Andreyevna Gorenko, who wrote under the name Anna Akhmatova.
Selections from “Wild Honey is a Smell of Freedom”, “Northern Elegies, #4” and an untitled poem were translated from the Russian by Katie Farris and Ilya Kaminsky.
literalab 
Hmm…Akhmatova’s “Northern Elegies Number 6” (because it is number 6, not 4, actually) just happens to be my favorite poem ever and this translation almost made me cry…Where did most of Akhmatova’s metaphors go? And why did they have to go – they were poignant, beautiful and crispy clear, – and there was no need to rhyme anything…
This may not do much to improve the translation, but it may improve Akhmatova’s lovers mood: Anna Andreevna reading the Sixth elegy:
http://vmusice.net/mp3/%E0%F5%EC%E0%F2%EE%E2%E0+%F1%E5%E2%E5%F0%ED%FB%E5+%FD%EB%E5%E3%E8%E8