"Babi Yar" by Yevgeny Yevtushenko: An Analysis Yevtushenko speaks in first person throughout the poem. This creates the tone of him being in the shoes of the Jews. As he says in lines 63-64, "No Jewish blood is mixed in mine, but let me be a Jew . . . " He writes the poem to evoke compassion for the Jews and make others aware of their hardships and injustices. "Only then can I call myself Russian." (lines 66-67). The poet writes of a future time when the Russian people realize that the Jews are people as well accept them as such. If you hate the Jews, he asks, why not hate me as well? True peace and unity will only occur whe