The book "Forty Poets" is the final in a series of collections conceived by me more than ten years ago dedicated to Chinese lyrics of modern times (1919-1949); previously published "Red Surf" (M., 1964), "Rainy Alley" (M., 1969), "Fifth Guard" (M., 1975). The book "Forty Poets" incorporates all the most significant of the three previous collections, and also presents readers with new translations of ten more poets.