This lecture is focused on Gavriil Derzhavin's poetic system; special emphasis is laid on its lyrical contents. Derzhavin's poetry is defined as a monument to the two literary epochs: the 18th and the 19th centuries, Derzhavin's "special way" being his refusal to keep to a purely rhetoric principal of poetic creativity. Such characteristics of Derzhavin's poetry as emotional constraint, colourfulness, human personality being the centre of poetry are emphasised. Such odes as On the Death of Prince Meschersky, The Swan and On Temporality are analysed.