Many contemporary Soviet poets write about women … but Evtushenko's poems on the subject are somewhat different from those of other poets. While most of them present women in love this is a minor subject for Evtushenko…. His female characters have specific qualities; they are earthly creatures; their feelings are intense and real. Evtushenko does not distance them with abstract associations. At the same time his poetic "I" is less personally involved in the action than those of poets like Voznesenskii. Like Voznesenskii, however, he sees women as victims of a cruel fate who are to be pitied or admired. Yet each of them is an unique human being, and there is always a certain tragic tone about each one. Although his female characters are not the beauties that most poets present, Evtushenko dramatizes them in such a way that they appear more moving and attractive than the conventional...