The film traces the path of the hero (formerly an ensign and a Knight of St. George, and then a talented commander of the Red Army) from the Civil War to the Great Patriotic War.

Poetic treatment of the early life of Ukrainian poet and painter Taras Shevchenko. A biopic made on the occasion of his 150th anniversary. It dwells on the first part of the Shevchenko's life leading up to the writing of his rebellious poem "A Dream" (A comedy).