For many, the versions from Asian and Oriental poetry made by E. Powys Mathers during and shortly after the First World War rank with those of Arthur Waley or Ezra Pound. This volume, pairing his first two books, Coloured Stars and Black Marigolds, assembles the best of his remarkable poetry, which even now reads with undated freshness.

Poet and dramatist Tony Harrison, a long-time Mathers admirer, describes the puzzles of Mathers’ life and the fascination and originality of his poetry in his entertaining preface.