The article defines and investigates the main semantic dominants of M.Makatayev's ontological world. In the poet's programme poem "Oyimda Arman" ("In thoughts – a dream") the lyrical plot is based on 4 key words: "mood", "life", "happiness", and "heart". Statistical sampling of 729 poems from Makatayev's poetry book "Zhir kitaby" showed that these 4 words occur 965 times. The description revealed their semantic and frequency hierarchy. Several poems confirmed a close relationship between these words: they often coexist within the same poetic text, enter into rhyme relations, and have a complex of expressive epithets. Specific analysis of Makatayev's poems, in which these words occur, shows that overcoming the tragedy and finding the harmony of life is possible only through poetry.