SOURCE: Ketchian, Sonia. “The Wonder of Nature and Art: Bella Axmadulina's Secret. New Studies in Russian Language and Literature, pp. 185-98. Columbus, Ohio: Slavica Publishers, Inc., 1986.

In the following essay, Ketchian asserts that the theme of poetic creation is intensified in Tajna: novye stixi. In a slightly altered form this article was republished as chapter 3, “The Key to the Secret,” in Sonia I. Ketchian, The Poetic Craft of Bella Akhmadulina, University Park: Pennsylvania State University, 1993.

The latest collection of verse by Bella Axmadulina Tajna: novye stixi (Secret: New Poems), typifies the artistic development of this poet, both in terms of presenting her most cohesive collection to date and in terms of unveiling the arena for the second stage of her lyric persona's artistic creation. Observing a degree of continuity with the preceding poetry, the collection features at least fifteen poems from previous collections. Fourteen of the poems are...