More than a decade after his death, this book records the achievement of a brilliant young poet who became a legend in his own short lifetime. At the age of twenty-one Michael Dransfield burst on the conservative poetry scene of the late 1960s. His work was a refreshing contrast to the mainstream of tailored understatement and civilised ironies. With seeming ease, he wove all aspects of his age - love, loneliness, society, drugs - into his poetry. "To be a poet in Australia" he wrote, "is the ultimate commitment." In true bardic tradition, he lived an itinerant life and his output was prolific. Four volumes of his poetry were published in three years, and three others appeared posthumously. Now for the first time all Michael Dransfield's previously published books are collected together in the one comprehensive volume. This represent the full arc of his development. The introduction by Rodney Hall provides an illuminating retrospective of the poet and his work.