The article offers insights into the translation activities of the Russian and Soviet poet Vsevolod Rozhdestvensky (1895-1977), one of the representatives of the Leningrad School of Literary Translation. Rozhdestvensky's poetic style was to a large extent shaped by the influence of such masters of literary translation as N. Gumilev, K. Chukovsky, M. Lozinsky. The article cites unpublished archival data - excerpts from Vs. Rozhdestvensky's letters of various years, where his views on the theoretical problems of literary translation were expressed. The difficulties encountered by a translator were also discussed. Of great interest are the poet's assessments of the translations by his contemporaries - colleagues in the workshop, many of them being close acquaintances or addressees of his friendly correspondence.