Donne, Cummings and Yevtushenko

Paper Summary:

The paper shows the poem "People" by Yevgeny Yevtushenko as an insightful and thought-provoking discussion about mankind in general as well as the individual man. The paper argues that because the poem glorifies people and reminds us to look for good in others, we could learn a great deal about being more considerate of people's thoughts and feelings by incorporating the poem into our lives. The paper compares "People" to poems by John Donne ("Meditation XVII") and E.E. Cummings ("anyone lied in a pretty how town"), comparisons which intensify the poem's theme of brotherhood.

From the Paper:

"The theme of brotherhood is strong in Yevtushenko's "People," appealing to our more philanthropical emotions. In a sense, the poem echoes John Donne's "Meditation XVII" from which the following well-known quotations come: "No man is an island" (827) and ". . .never send to know for whom the bell tolls' it tolls for thee" (828). Both Donne's "Meditation" and Yevtushenko's poem express the idea that the loss of any individual in society is a loss of part of ourselves because we all share a bond with mankind, whether it be a bond of general humanitarianism or a more direct connection of knowing "brother of a brother" or "friend of friends" (328). When someone dies, he takes with him his private world of memories, "his first snow and kiss and fight" (328), which are a part of the person with whom he experienced these events as well. Therefore, a piece of the secret world of the living joins that of the dead, never to be rekindled in conversation, only in one-sided reminiscing."

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