The article discusses how values are transformed when a piece of poetry is translated. It is argued that the axiological component is all-important in the process of translation. The translator of poetry transforms or adapts the author’s picture of the world, seeking to incorporate it into the recipient’s picture of the world, in a modified form though. The latter in his or her turn accepts or rejects this attempt. The article seeks to analyze Samuil Marshak’s successful experience of translating Robert Burns, which, as is known, has become a fact of Russian literature and culture. Special emphasis is laid on several aspects – social and psychological proximity of the poet and the translator, orientation toward the readership, confines of the mediator style, adaptation of the Scottish folk ballad, poetic traditions of conveying songs, and musicality of the translation.