An unhappy love had a powerful influence on the development of his poetical talent, and his versified efforts suddenly became fervent songs of love and hate, of melancholy, soulful cries of grief and woe, full of melodious expressions of the world about him.

One of Byelinsky's friends, whose family lived near Voronezh, made his acquaintance, read his poems and applauded much in them.

Three years later, in 1833, at the request and expense of this new friend, Koltzoff published a small collection, containing eighteen poems selected by him, which showed that he possessed an original and really noteworthy poetical gift.

In 1835 Koltzoff visited St.Petersburg and made acquaintance with Pushkin, Zhukovsky, and many other literary men, and between 1836 and 1838 his fame penetrated even to the knowledge of the citizens in his native town.

He continued to aid his father in business, but his heart was elsewhere--he longed for the intellectual companionship of his friends in Moscow, and all this rendered him extremely unhappy.