Akhmatova became a revolutionary in this particular area too. Other female poets had published love poetry, of course, but Akhmatova was the first “to construct” a literary love affair; that is, for the first time, by force of her public readings and publications in magazines, a woman created a public perception of an affair in which, for a change, attention was focused on a man
This literary “affair” of Akhmatova’s caught on almost immediately with her readers because the subject of the literary charade was none other than Blok, a nationally famous person. Akhmatova had turned the tables on Blok, using his own devices.
Her first poem that was centered on Blok, the ballad “Gray-Eyed King,” appeared in 1911 in
Blok reacted to this bold attempt to change the rules of the game with cautious interest. He must have decided not to meet Akhmatova halfway in real life. His mother, who shared the poet’s most intimate secrets, commented forthrightly on his decision in a letter to a friend. “I keep waiting for my son to meet and fall in love with a woman who is anxious and profound, and therefore also tender…. And there is such a young poetess, Anna Akhmatova, who is reaching out to him and would be prepared to love him. But he is turning away from her, even though she is beautiful and talented. But she is sad. And he doesn’t like that.” Quoting the opening lines of Akhmatova’s ballad,
Blok’s mother concludes compassionately, “You can judge for yourself what that miserable young maiden must feel.”68
But on a purely literary plane, Blok apparently decided to participate in Akhmatova’s charade, since he wrote a madrigal and dedicated it to her. And when Akhmatova in turn replied to the madrigal with a new poem, Blok suggested—perhaps hoping to outmaneuver her—that they have both works printed in a small theatrical magazine published for the Petersburg elite by his friend the director Meyerhold. Even though the magazine’s circulation was only three hundred, the impact of the publication was enormous, assuring readers in the know that there definitely was an affair between Blok and Akhmatova.
In Akhmatova’s second book,
A contemporary chronicled Akhmatova’s ascension: At literary evenings the young people went crazy when Akhmatova appeared on the stage. She did it skillfully, aware of her feminine charm. Another witness of Akhmatova’s frequent literary appearances in Petersburg recalled, “Her success was extraordinary. Students and young women surrounded their beloved poetess It was hard to reach her in the intermissions—the young people crowded around her in an impenetrable wall.”69
Once Akhmatova was invited to appear at the first Russian university for women, the so-called St. Petersburg Higher Bestuzhev Courses. The leading Russian feminists were in attendance. In the green room Akhmatova saw Blok and learned that she was supposed to appear after him. Frightened by the prospect of appearing on stage after the most famous poet in Russia, she asked him to switch places with her. She was rebuffed with a polite but firm, “We’re not tenors.” Nevertheless, Akhmatova was a great success, prompting an esteemed feminist to comment, “Now she got equal rights for herself at least.”
By this time postcard pictures of Akhmatova, like the ones of Blok were available throughout Russia. And her popularity with artists as a model had even surpassed Blok’s.
It’s interesting to recall that exactly in those years a woman named Vera Kholodnaya became the most famous Russian movie star. Her sad beauty, cool demeanor, and expressive eyes made Kholodnaya “the queen of the Russian screen.” I don’t believe anyone has yet pointed out the resemblance of Kholodnaya’s heroines in character and image with the “Akhmatova type.”
