SOURCE: Ketchian, Sonia. “The Moon as Medium for Art.” In The Poetic Craft of Bella Akhmadulina, pp. 69-98. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993.

In the following essay, Ketchian explores Akhmadulina’s use of the moon as a theme in her poetry.

Inspiration 

I waited Pen in hand For the Muse To visit me … 

Meanwhile I penned These words To kill time! 

Whereupon the Muse Arrived and said: “I see you did not Need me after all …” 

—Mischa Kudian

Anyone who reads or writes on the moon in literature may well wonder whether there is anything left to be said on this pervasive topic, that is, until becoming familiar with Bella Akhmadulina's collection The Secret.¹ A preview of some crucial moments in the treatment of the moon in literature will serve toward appreciating the innovation introduced by this poet. “It all began with the moon,” as Akhmadulina so...