Initially published in 1990 when the new york times book review named it one of fourteen best books of the year judith hemschemeyers translation of the complete poems of anna akhmatova is the definitive edition and has sold over 13000 copies making it one of the most successful poetry titles of recent yearsthis reissued and revised printing features a new biographical essay as well as . Initially published in 1990 when the new york times book review named it one of fourteen best books of the year judith hemschemeyers translation of the complete poems of anna akhmatova is the definitive edition and has sold over 13000 copies making it one of the most successful poetry titles of recent years. Initially published in 1990 when the new york times book review named it one of fourteen best books of the year judith hemschemeyers translation of the complete poems of anna akhmatova is the definitive edition and has sold over 13000 copies making it one of the most successful poetry titles of recent yearsthis reissued and revised printing features a new biographical essay as well as . The complete poems of anna akhmatova the complete poems of anna akhmatova 2800 from the artistic passion of the st petersburg poets and bohemians to the collective suffering of a nation through this turbulent century akhmatova spoke to and for the soul of her people. Anna akhmatova is the literary pseudonym of anna andreevna gorenko her first husband was gumilev and she too became one of the leading acmeist poets her second book of poems beads 1914 brought her fame her earlier manner intimate and colloquial gradually gave way to a more classical severity apparent in her volumes the whte flock 1917 and anno domini mcmxxi 1922