Aleksey Pleshcheyev began writing poetry at the age of eighteen, and in 1846 appeared the first edition tion of his poems. He enriched Russian letters with a large number of translations from various languages and with original lyrical verses. His poems bear the imprint of melancholy, disappointment, and renunciation, but they are also filled with the aspirations of his youth. He was the most cultivated and the most sympathetic poet of his time. Besides writing original poetry he translated many pieces from the English, French, Italian, and German poets.
