The book consists of translations and studies of church poetic works of the Middle Ages. It includes both texts of the East (creations of Ephraim the Syrian, Roman the Sweet Singer, John of Damascus, anonymous hymns from Iadgari, etc.) and works of the West (hymns of Prudence, fragments from Heliand and Saxon Genesis). Translations were made from Greek Byzantine, Latin, Syriac in a metric close to the original. The texts are commented. The introductory articles provide information about the authorship, time and place of their creation, the theological and literary significance of these monuments is revealed.