Matthew Mead’s third collection of verse follows Identities (1967) and The Administration of Things (1970). In his own words, his is ‘a quiet voice for quiet rooms’ – but the voice is distinct and compels attention. As Richard Holmes wrote of his last book in The Times, ‘Genuine social vision is still exceptional in English poetry. Matthew Mead … is engaged, wilful, critically aware of inhumane surroundings, but without the remotest hint of pop poetry and deeply conscious of the literary effort he has inherited …He is a good poet, knows the problems, deserves to be read.’