Viktor Lazarevich Polyakov (1881-1906) is one of the “forgotten” poets of the Silver Age. Nevertheless, his poems are undoubtedly worthy of attention. Among his literary acquaintances, such poets as: A. Blok, A. A. Kondratiev. Valery Bryusov and Alexander Blok responded with reviews of his only posthumous collection (Polyakov V. Poems. St. Petersburg: Typ. “Sirius”, 1909. - 114 p. ., 1 sheet of portrait - 600 copies).Bryusov wrote about him in particular: “...V. Polyakov’s poems are not the first experiments of an author who has a long way to improve, but a firmly, confidently begun speech, which was only cut short at the first words. That is why V. Polyakov so often appears in poetry not as a student, but as a teacher...” “...V. Polyakov’s worldview, on the contrary, seems to be something whole, complete in itself and extremely original. He was born with a certain view of the world, external influences could neither change nor even shake this worldview, and in his further activities the poet only had to deepen what he had guessed from the very beginning...” He recalled him in the middle of the century in letters to Roman Gul, Vladimir Markov and Georgy Ivanov, and Irina Odoevtseva even dedicated a poem to him. “...the second verses are dedicated to the memory of a most remarkable creature. Alas, I do not have and can’t get his posthumous book anywhere: it was not noticed by anyone at the time. Sergei Polyakov (G.I. constantly gets the poet’s name wrong...) - from the family of those same millionaires, he committed suicide this way - in Paris, at the Trocadero dance in the evening, a handsome young man in a top hat and tails approached a Frenchman sitting on a bench , and, lifting the cylinder, asked what time it was? He said: half past ten. The young man (S. Polyakov) raised the cylinder, thanked him, stepped aside and shot himself. Right next to av. Henri Martin a ball began at his parents' mansion. Why? I asked his brother at the time - no one knew. The posthumous collection, I will not exaggerate, was at the height of Boratynsky...” Odoevtseva’s poem dedicated to the fate of Viktor Polyakov, “Mediterranean Hell...” was published in the New Journal (1957, book LI) with the dedication: “In memory of the poet Sergei Polyakov (1909)” and with the year of death indicated incorrectly, except for the name. Included, revised, in her collection “Portrait in a Rhymed Frame” (Paris, 1976). Georgy Ivanov himself contains reminiscences from Polyakov in the poem “The hairstyle and costume are changing...” (New Journal, 1952, book XXXI). See N.A. Bogomolov about this in “Russian Literature of the First Third of the 20th Century” (Tomsk, 1999, pp. 444-446). This selection is a selection from the poet’s only collection. It is based on poems from the book “And the heart is longing for a shot...”. M, 2003. P. 38-68.