Every work of art, of whatever type or genre, undoubtedly contains features of its creator and represents a distinctive autobiography of the creative personality. At the same time, it is no literal, mirror image of its creator, but rather a self-portrait of some lyric hero or heroine who emerges in the process of the creative act, a persona based on the artist's personality, but not totally identical with it.

The correlation between the poet's personality and the literary image which emerges while reading poetic texts always arouses the interest of literary scholars. One or another solution to this question provides the key to an analysis of the work, an elucidation of its typical or specific nature and an introduction to a definite socio-cultural context, not to mention its gender-specific attributes, a subject which arouses controversy today. An artistic self-portrait makes it possible to study not only a specific creative personality, but also the sensual, emotional and psychological aspects of a society, which are so important to its spiritual history. This is what enables us to appreciate an era from within, to explore and evaluate it not on the basis of external facts and events, but through the existential experiences and feelings of human beings.

From the works of Soviet women poets I have selected poems by Tat′iana Bek, Nina Iskrenko and Tat′iana Smertina, since, in my opinion, they represent different types of poetic heroine, with different patterns of mentality, temperament and philosophy.