Poems written by Anna Akhmatova, the major woman writer in Russia in the first half of the twentieth century, are presented and discussed in this paper. In a brief overview of Akhmatova's work, it is noted that she was vitally concerned with the expression of her experience as a woman poet and a lover, and that she portrayed both male lovers and husbands in negative ways. Poems are then explicated to show Akhmatova's treatment of her major themes. Among the poems dealt with are "The Guest," a version of the story of don Juan, which shows the powerlessness of don Juan's women; a poem in which marriage is seen as confining; "Lot's Wife," in which Lot is seen as an obsessed being and as ignorant of the inner world of the woman narrator; a poem in which Akhmatova appears to grapple with the eventuality of her own eclipse and the rise of other women poets; "Epigram," in which women artists are perceived as threats or annoyances; and "To Poetry," which encapsulates Akhmatova's treatment of her most common poetic themes-poetry, women poets, love, and male lovers-and her differing attitudes and expectations regarding men and women. A bibliography of Akhmatova's works in translation is included. (GW)