As the only Poème with an independent opus number, it was composed in 1905. This was the year his marriage with Vera collapsed, and he began a new life with his lover, Tatyana Schloezer. It was also the year the First Russian Revolution occurred in Scriabin's homeland, Russia.

The first piece is in Lento, 2/4 time. This piece, only 29 measures long, adopts an "AA'" binary form. The melody emerges over descending arpeggiated chords. Dominant 7th and dominant 9th chords are prevalent, and the alteration of their fifths by a semitone creates a shifting sonority. Perhaps reflecting his departure for Paris in the year this piece was written, French indications are present. It is also characteristic that it is written in C major, a key he would frequently employ thereafter.

The second piece is in Moderato, 3/8 time. Similar to the first piece, it is written in C major, a key Scriabin favored from this period onwards. The structure of this piece, less than 50 measures long, is a ternary form, and the clashing chordal sonorities create a certain tension. The bass rhythm often consists of two sixteenth notes on the first beat, with the remaining beats as rests; Scriabin frequently used progressions presenting augmented fourth intervals with this rhythm until his later years.