The goal of this research lies in the analysis of romantic motifs and corresponding poetic images in the works of the prominent Turkish ashik of the XVII century Karacaoğlan, as well as in determination of the nature of interaction of the folklore and his original tradition therein. The article employs literary text analysis, as well as the method of description and comparison. Using the specific examples, the author examines the key motifs of Karacaoğlan’s romantic lyrics (praise and admiration of the beauty of the beloved; infidelity of the beloved; separation; doubting the feelings of the beloved, etc.), and the imagery system associated with these motifs: a nightingale, rose, grus, a “burning heart”, a “wounded soul”, landscape sketches (snowcapped mountains, light breeze, etc.). Analysis is also conducted on the artistic means of creating the portrait of a beauty: her face, eyes, eyebrows, hair, manner of walking, clothes, and accessories. Literary works of the Turkish ashik Karacaoğlan have not previously become the object of separate research within the Russian science, which detfines the novelty of this article. The conclusion is made that the traditions of folklore and Diwan (Sufi) poetry are organically intertwined in the works by Karacaoğlan, which determines the specificity of poetics of ashik literature not only of the XVII century, but also the entire time continuum. This study contributes to clarification of the typology and poetics of ashik poetry, as well as the nature of interaction of the folklore and the author’s individual tradition within a single work.