33 reflections-essays by Dmitry Bykov about the poetic path, creative style of outstanding Russian poets, and not only - from Alexander Pushkin to BG - are presented in this book. And no matter how paradoxical and provocative some discoveries sometimes sound in Dmitry Bykov’s articles and lectures, in his living thought, brilliant and unusual, there is always a healthy grain that highlights non-obvious parallels and subtexts, mutual influences and echoes, insights about the biographies and destinies of Russian poets , which, if you reflect, become obvious and reliable, and will inevitably be recognized by you, dear readers, you just have to read. Dmitry Bykov is the author who awakens the desire to think! The book presents revived modern images of poets in portrait graphics by Alexei Averin.