The first 14 years of his life and the last 19 years, the poet known to everyone from school days bore the surname Shenshin. However, for most of his life, he was known by his mother's surname, Fet, and it is under this name that he entered the history of Russian culture. Afanasy Fet studied at a private boarding school and then enrolled in the historical and philological faculty of Moscow University, where he began writing his first works. Gogol, seeing his talent, gave him his blessing for serious literary activity.

Fet's first collection of poems, titled "Lyric Pantheon," was published in 1840 and received approval from Belinsky, which inspired the poet for further creativity. From 1842, his poems were regularly published in the magazines "Moskvityanin" and "Otechestvennye Zapiski." In 1843, Belinsky wrote that among the poets living in Moscow, Fet was the most talented.

The poetic fame of Afanasy Afanasevich grew rapidly. The success of his second book, "Fet's Poems," published in 1850 in Moscow, opened the doors to the Petersburg circle of "Sovremennik," where he met Turgenev and Botkin. Soon, Fet acquired the estate of Vorobyovka in the Kursk province, where he was visited by Turgenev and Tchaikovsky. The composer, inspired by the beauty of the Kursk landscapes, wrote five romances to Fet's verses.

Fet's creativity attracted people due to his ability to find unique charm in nature at different times of the year. Even in withering nature, he saw beauty that evoked bright, life-affirming feelings. This is evident in such poems as "Sad Birch," "Dog Hunting," "The Leaves Trembled as They Fell." In his poetry, nature is inhabited by living beings, not only traditional ones like the nightingale, eagle, or swan, but also such as the lapwing and sandpiper, possibly appearing for the first time in the lyrical landscape.

On January 29, 1889, Fet's 50 years of literary activity was ceremoniously celebrated in Moscow, and he was awarded the title of chamberlain. Afanasy Afanasevich passed away on November 21, 1892, in Moscow, two days short of his 72nd birthday, and was buried in the ancestral estate of Shenshins, in the village of Kleymenovo, Oryol province.