The aim of this article is to show how tense-aspect morphology could be used for discourse-pragmatic purpose of structuring the lyric text. In the poem discussed, switching from PFV past to IPFV present is essential for shifting between foreground and background. The novelty of our approach lies in application of ideas developed within narrative analysis in order to discuss information grounding in lyric poetry. Analysing Polish and English translations of O. Mandelstam’s poem, we will demonstrate how saving temporal structure of the original text can become an important criteria in judging the adequacy of poetic translation.