The article reveals the fundamental features of the genre “poem in prose” by Ivan S. Turgenev. This is the main theme – human existence in the world; composition of two parts – the image of a particular moment of life, elevated to the rank of universal, in the first part, and the feelings and reflections caused by it in the second part; elegiac tone of speech; dual addressee of speech – the author and the reader; imitation of the dialogue between the wise writer and the reader; style of verbal minimalism, which leads to the transformation of the semantics of language units and stimulates the reader’s reaction.