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Use of personification Although he did not experiment in metrics and rhyme, Annensky was more adventurous stylistically in his employment of personification. He frequently capitalizes the first letter of a word denoting an object or abstract term to identify it with a human being, utilizing the simile and metaphor for the same purpose. Annensky’s reliance on personification causes the reader to view nature, at least within the scope of these poems, as an extension of the conscious mind. His poetic universe centers on the mind, extends to artifacts, includes surrounding nature (especially the garden), and is limited only by the clouds.

Rosslyn, Wendy. The Prince, the Fool, and the Nunnery: The Religious Theme in the Early Poetry of Anna Akhmatova. Amersham, England: Avebury, 1984. An examination of the interplay of religion and love in Akhmatova’s early collections, this book also contains considerable biographical detail. Poems are included in both Russian and English translation. Wells, David N. Anna Akhmatova: Her Poetry. Oxford, England: Berg, 1996. Wells offers a succinct overview of Akhmatova’s life and poetry from the beginnings to her later works.

Setchkarev dis40 Russian Poets Annensky, Innokenty cusses in detail Annensky’s rise to prominence and his contribution to the Russian literature of the first decade of the twentieth century. The author analyzes Annensky’s significance in the second wave of Russian Symbolists. A must for students of Annensky by a Russian scholar transplanted in the West. Tucker, Janet G. Innokentij Annenskij and the Acmeist Doctrine. Columbus, Ohio: Slavica, 1986. In this studious examination of Annensky’s poetry, the author analyzes the poet’s contribution to Symbolist poetry, the themes and devices of his poetry, his role as a literary critic, and, above all, his views of, and relationship to, the doctrine of Acmeism and his links with that movement.