SOURCE: Reavey, George. “Yevgeny Yevtushenko: Man and Poet.” In The Poetry of Yevgeny Yevtushenko 1953 to 1965, translated by George Reavey, pp. vii-xxxvii. New York: October House, 1965.

In the following essay, Reavey places Yevtushenko in the context of Russian literature and chronicles his work through the mid-1960s.

1. Russia and the Spectre of the Poet

There is something about the poet and his poetic utterance that has a terrifying effect on some Russians, and especially on the Authorities, be they Tsarist or Soviet. It is as though poetry were an irrational force which must be bridled and subjugated and even destroyed. If the critics cannot do it, then the police must try. History tells us that the lives of Russian poets have been ravaged. One need only mention the tragic fate that befell Pushkin, Lermontov, Blok, Gumilev, Yesenin, Mayakovsky, Mandelshtam and Tsvetayeva. It is as though Russia were frightened by...