From Desire To Desire

by Yevgeny Yevtushenko

English, Russian

Genres: Poetry

126 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Евгений Евтушенко
Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko (Russian: Евгений Александрович Евтушенко; born 18 July 1933 in Zima Junction, Siberia) is a Soviet and Russian poet. He is also a novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, actor, editor, and a director of several films.

Reviews

[Steven Godin · Rating 3 out of 5]

MY BELOVED WILL ARRIVE AT LAST
(1959)

My beloved will arrive at last,
and fold me in her arms.
She will notice the least change in me,
and understand all my apprehensions.
Out of the black rain, the infernal gloom,
having forgotten to shut the taxi door,
she'll dash up the rickety steps,
all flushed with joy and longing.
Drenched, she'll burst in without knocking,
and clasp my head in her hands;
and from a chair her blue fur coat
will slip blissfully to the floor . . .

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this before discarding it from my library - "On the Death of a Dog" stopped me in the tracks and punched me in the heart. Some of the other translations are not so good.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

The poetry was good, but my favorite portion was the introduction, "A Connoisseur of Love Knows Nothing of Love." There was a lot to appreciate in it. A new take on pity - that pity doesn't degrade others, that in north Russia, pity and love are synonymous. In a matter of pages, drawing from Pushkin, Pasternak, and Ionesco. A second reframing of pity back to pity in, "It's not envy I feel but a kind of pity and revulsion for men who try always to be seen in the company of beautiful women. There is a certain spiritual inferiority in that, a hunger for self-affirmation: "Look at me! I've got a beautiful new woman by my side. I'm worth something."

(I've been rewatching a lot of Seinfeld lately, and have found it quite sad. Cue the laugh track.)

"If ever you find people looking at you with arrogance or with something base and obscene in their eyes, stop and consider: Have they ever loved? And while you're at it, ask yourself: 'Have I?'" xiii

A couple notes on a couple of the lines that I loved:

"...touch cold marble, chill my hand
and, heavyhearted, understand
that nothing ever really happened,
ever would, ever can."
-from 'Damp White Imprints'

Some translations are far superior to others. This one was great. The rhyme and meter recalls Poe. The content: Frida Kahlo. It's short enough for a quick memorization, and probably worth adding to the list.

I saw that others liked the poem, "On the Death of a Dog." I did, too. But I especially liked this line,

"Whenever souls migrate
the truth will out:
a coward's still a coward,
a louse remains a louse."

The poem, 'Light Died in the Hall' so reminded me of Seamus Heaney's The Door Was Open and the House was Dark, I thought there's no way Heaney didn't read this short Yevtushenko poem and feed off it for his.

And from, 'The Sigh,'

"...I've had enough.
. . . . . I've barred the door.
I do not smile now anymore."

And the end of that one, too, is quite good.

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strong book of love poems, but some of the translations are hit or miss. That said, some of these poems are absolute jaw-droppers.

[Robin]

poetry