‘He Loved Three Things Alone…’ by Anna Akhmatova

He loved three things alone:

White peacocks, evensong,

Old maps of America.

He hated children crying,

And raspberry jam with his tea,

And womanish hysteria.

… And he had married me.

– by Анна Ахматова (Anna Akhmatova) (1911)

– from Вечер (Evening, 1912), translation by D. M. Thomas