SOURCE: Ulyashov, Pavel. “Queuing for Hope (About Yevgeni Yevtushenko's Poem ‘Fukú!’).”Soviet Literature 9, no. 462 (1986): 139-42.

In the following review, Ulyashov extols the universal theme and important message of the poem “Fukú!”

Yevgeni Yevtushenko's poetry has long been part of the Soviet reader's consciousness: we use his more aphoristic lines as headings for articles, quote his verse in speeches from public rostra, and use some of his catch-phrases in our arguments and conversations (“Civic-mindedness is a rare talent”, “In Russia a poet is more than just a poet”). All this testifies at once to Yevtushenko's immense reputation and to the fact that he actively responds to the problems of his time and accurately takes the pulse of society.

Yevtushenko is not drawn to the life of quiet introspection. He has visited Cuba, Vietnam, Chile and Nicaragua, where the flames of revolution have been lit and whence the spirit of...