Like most of his modernist contemporaries, Eliot believed that 'The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality'. In recent years, few poets have disagreed more conspicuously than Yevgeny Yevtushenko. His reputation depends to a large extent on the inflation of personality—apparent radicalism, a charismatic background, and good looks have ensured him an enthusiastic public reception. Private reception is a different matter: what commands the stage at readings is vulnerable to charges of solipsism on the page. Yevtushenko obviously realises this, and defends himself at length in the introduction to The Face Behind The Face. He disapproves of masks because they are associated with 'the idea of forced collectivism', and frankly admits that, 'despite the kaleidoscope of geographical and psychological situations' in his book, it has a single hero: himself. The face behind—and in front of—the face is always his...