William Radice"s second book shows him to be a natural story-teller as well as a vigorous and inventive poet. In these extended poems he catches a variety of people at critical points in the relationships through which they strive towards self-knowledge and understanding of their roles in life. From the violin-playing tramp in `Epithalamium" to the retired watch-mender in `Two Meditations", the remarkable personalities of David and Mary, or the imagined historical character of the Irish landowner who dramatizes Goldsmith"s `The Deserted Village" - all the characters are finely realized, and their predicaments are sympathetically presented. The vitality of Radice"s language matches his skill in narrative and lyric forms.