It details the background story of how Anna Akhmatova came to the decision of writing this poem and also explains the environment they were a part of during that period in history. Below is the paragraph that introduces the cycle:  "During the frightening period of the Yezhov terror, I spent seventeen months waiting in prison queues in Leningrad. One day, somehow, someone "picked me out". On that occasion there was a woman standing behind me, her lips blue with cold, who, of course, had never in her life heard my name. Jolted out of the torpor characteristic of all of us, she said into my ear (everyone whispered there) "Could one ever describe this?" And I answered, "I can." It was then that something like a smile slid across what had previously been just a face." The second section of the cycle is the first ten poems after the introduction, which are references to her personal grief. Her husband Nikolay Punin had been arrested for his second time and placed into jail where he died. In the first poem of this set titled "Dedication", she references her unsettling feelings toward his arrest and his death, and also reaches out to her close friends who had also been arrested. While the first paragraph is a dedication to people who were very important to her, the other nine of the second section directly relate to the arrest of her only son Lev Gumilev. Akhmatova expresses her inner sadness, pain and anger about the situation she and many other women were put in. For 17 months, she waited outside the prison in Leningrad just waiting for a glimpse or notification of what was going to happen to her son. This section concludes with Akhmatova describing how no one can take away the important things that go unnoticed such as a touch, a look, visits, etc.  3. The third and last section of this set starts with the title "Crucifixion". This set of poems is from the perspective of the other women who also stood outside Leningrad prison waiting for just a glimpse or notification from their fathers, sons, or husbands who had been arrested also. Through intricate details, she describes the grieving, pain, weakness, and fear she observed while waiting along with them during this time of terror. Overwhelmed with sadness, the ending closes with:  "Requiem" is often said to have no clearly definable plot but has many themes which carry throughout the entire poem. One of the most important themes that also stands as part of the title is the theme of "A poem without a hero".