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Page:Modern Russian Poetry.djvu/178

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152
Anna Akhmatova

CONFESSION

From my poor sins I am set free.
In lilac dusk the taper smolders;
The dark stole's rigid drapery
Conceals a massive head and shoulders.

"Talitha kumi": Is it He
Once more? How fast the heart is beating . . .
A touch: a hand moves absently
The customary cross repeating.