The educational and methodological manual for the course “Fundamentals of Literary Theory” is intended for first-year students of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University. It examines the main problems of poetry included in the course program: rhythm, rhyme, stanza, sound organization of verse. The scientific basis of the manual is the concept of S. M. Bondi, which eliminates the need for excessive formalization when studying rhythm. Compared to previous versions (1982, 1988 under the title “Poetic Speech”), the manual has updated examples and bibliography. The publishing layout has been preserved in PDF A4 format.