He was sixteen years of age when Dmitrieff's works fell into his hands, and inspired him with a desire to imitate them, and to "make songs" himself.

As yet he did not understand the difference between poetry and popular songs, and did not read verses, but sang them.

The local book-seller was the first to recognize his poetical tendency, and in a degree, guided him on the right road with a "Russian Prosody," and other suitable books, such as the works of Zhukovsky, Pushkin, and other contemporary poets.

A passion for writing poetry was in the air in the '20's.

But although he yielded to this and to the promptings of his genius, it was a long time before he was able to clothe his thoughts in tolerable form.