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Early Poems (Russian Edition)

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One can argue that Yegevny Yevtushenko is Russia's greatest modern poet. At the peak of his career, he packed theaters in Russia. People flocked to see him, to hear Russia's muse read his scripture. This volume of poetry includes Yevtushenko's masterwork. Upon writing his poem Babii Yar, Yevtushenko became a worldwide success. This piece gave fame to a site in Russia where thousands of slaughtered Jews rest. Yevtushenko's poems hold subtle indictments of Soviet Society. Babii Yar incriminates the Russians who do not want to remember all the Russian Jews who perished. In A Career, the poet expresses his dislike for those who deny the truth in order to win approval from their leaders. The book features Yevtushenko's poems in both Russian and english. If one cannot read Yevtushenko's native language, the english version, translated by George Reavy, is sufficient. Although not percisely translated, the poems hold that same meaning and stark beauty.

Yevtushenko's early poems were, and still are, some of his best--powerful, vivid, and brilliant, even in English translation. This is a bilingual Russian/English edition.

His poem, "Babii Yar," about the slaughter of Jews at that fateful place during World War II, was used as the centerpiece for Shostakovich's Thirteenth Symphony. Written in 1962 to combat anti-Semitism, it is just as powerful and meaningful today as when it was first read.

"Nothing in me shall ever forget!" (from "Babii Yar")