We learn a good deal about David Mason's life through his poetry: we learn of his family life and troubles, his travels, his loves, and his losses, but we never have the impression of being buttonholed by a man who is self-centered or egoistical. Partly this is because we are convinced of the numerous ways in which the life he recounts is connected to other lives, to places and to historical events. But it is mainly because we always sense how closely what he recounts is related to ourselves. As with all major poets, his voice becomes our own."

This book examines Mason's career in detail, from his very first volume (1990) to his most recent publications, bringing out the full range of his accomplishment in a number of different genres-lyrics, narrative poetry, children's verse, drama, and opera libretti-while also examining his critical essays and memoirs. While offering close readings of all his most important poems-from the shortest epigram to the book-length verse narrative, Ludlow-the book also provides the biographical context for these works, giving an insight into a rich and varied life that has spanned three continents.