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The sand as white
as old bones, the pine trees
strangely red where the sun comes down.
I cannot say if it is our love,
or the day, that is ending.

— Anna Akhmatova Departures (1964)

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Love

More quotes by Anna Akhmatova

A new epoch has begun. You and I will wait for it together.

Why is this century worse than those others?
Maybe, because, in sadness and alarm,
It only touched the blackest of the ulcers,
But couldn't heal it in its span of time.

Why is this century worse than those others? (1919)

I go forth to seek —
To seek and claim the lovely magic garden
Where grasses softly sigh and Muses speak.

He is no better and no worse,
but he is free of Lethe's curse:
his warm hand makes a human pledge.

Poem without a Hero (1963)

I don't know if you're alive or dead.
Can you on earth be sought,
Or only when the sunsets fade
Be mourned serenely in my thought?

I Don't Know If You're Alive Or Dead (1915)

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Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind.

William Shakespeare A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595)

To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

Bertrand Russell Marriage and Morals (1929)

Not for the body, but for the heart; companion and company are needed.

Sanu Sharma

Love seldom haunts the breast where learning lies,
And Venus sets ere Mercury can rise.

Alexander Pope

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Anna Akhmatova (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.