The book by the famous philologist and literary critic Efim Grigorievich Etkind (1918-1999) is dedicated to the art of reading and understanding poetry. The author, using specific examples, shows the difference between a word in prose and a word in poetry, reveals such concepts as “context” and “metaphor,” “style,” “rhythm” and “rhyme.” However, this is not a dry theory of poetry, but a fascinating lively conversation that encourages you to read Russian poetry and love it. The publication is addressed to high school-age readers, teachers and everyone who is not indifferent to poetry. The publishing layout of the book is saved in PDF A4 format.