The article is a tribute to the outstanding philosopher B.M.Kedrov who gave a lot of his time to studying creativity in general and D.M.Mendeleyev's creative career in particular. To analyze the phenomenon of creative insight the author uses concepts of the inner and outer form of the word, image, action dating back to V.vonGumboldt and later developed by G.G.Shpet. The author also makes use of poetic knowledge and poetic insight.