Anna Akhmatova & Wislawa Szymborska on “Lot’s Wife”

1. There is the journey and the feeling of ‘wild grief’ by Lot’s wife.

2. Her memories are mostly positive memories. The poem states that she remembered how she sang in the square, loved her husband and raised her kids.

3. Wars, famines, natural disasters, and extreme poverty.

4. Lot’s wife felt contempt towards her husband for being so righteous that even if she died, he wouldn’t notice or hesitate.

5. Lot’s wife did not seem to understand what made her look back. She was consumed by the memory of the place, it was something she couldn’t explain.

6. I do not consider Wislawa’s poem to be religious because it seems to carry more morality than religion in it.

7. I find Wislawa’s poem more interesting because it explains so much with beautiful imagery.

8. Akhmatova’s poem offers a more sympathetic view of Lot’s wife.

9. Wislawa’s poem reminds me so much of my own experiences with looking back at things I left behind.

10. The imagery used in both poems are beautiful, but Wislawa’s poem contains more as she used more words.
The poems differ in tone and Rhythm. Akhmatova’s poem is regular as it takes a definite form while Wislawa’s poem is irregular as it is a free versed poem. Anna’s Akhmatova has an ABAB rhyme, while Szymborska didn’t employ the use of rhymes.

Younglan Talyoung