Gathered here in their entirety are the seven previous volumes of Robert Francis poetry--Stand with Me Here, Valhalla and Other Poems, The Sound I Listened For, The Face against the Glass, The Orb Weaver, Come Out into the Sun, and Like Ghosts of Eagles--together with a group of recent poems, many not previously published but "saved" to end this volume on a note of newness.

Because the original seven volumes are kept in chronological order, the reader can follow the author's journey from his quiet early work to poetry of greater color, warmth, vitality, vivacity, and sportiveness; and can note just when and where Francis' style becomes more and more diversified, with word-count, fragmented surface, and the celebration of words themselves.

The book is graced with eight wood engravings by Wang Hui-Ming.