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.

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.

E. Powys Mathers (1892-1939) is most often remembered, other than as the author of `Black Marigolds’, for his version of the `Thousand Nights and One Night’ and as his alter ego, `Torquemada’ of the Observer – a name to conjure with in the history of the cryptic crossword.