Scenes from the life and revolutionary activity of poet Nikola Vaptzarov are shown against the background of political life in Bulgaria on the eve of World War II.

At the Varna Naval College Vaptzarov recites his first poem before his friends. They are unanimous: Vaptzarov will become a great poet like Botev. All the cadets are agitated about the Reishstag Fire trial in Leipzig where Georgi Dimitrov has been unjustly accused. Vaptzarov starts work as a stoker in the village. He is dismissed because of his revolutionary ideas. In 1939, in Sofia, where he has moved with his family, he wins the Writrer's Union competition with his poem Romance. He turns down an offer of work as a sub editor for the government newspaper Zarya. Tragedy strikes the family: his only son dies. Vaptzarov is interned. His collection of poems Motor Songs is secretly distributed. Bulgaria enters the war. The poet is member of underground group. He organizes the sending of partisan up into the mountain but is arrested for his activities and sentenced to death.—Georgi Djulgerov <[email protected]>