Paavo Haavikko has always been a prolific writer. Poetry, prose, plays, whatever he turns his hand to he executes with ease and assurance. The year 1975 was a gala year for him: in addition to his collected poems in two large volumes, Runot 1949–1974 … and Runoelmat …, he also produced a highly successful opera libretto, Ratsumies (The Horseman …). (p. 337)

Haavikko's poetry as a whole forms a tightly-woven, complex tapestry, in which many themes merge and emerge. Most poets write of love and death, many of poetry. Haavikko's interest in history seems, however, to put him in a more select company among modern poets. In [a] radio interview he was asked why he so often veiled his themes in the history of Rome or Byzantium and in the Finnish past. His reply was:

Everything is history. The antique world is where it happened. I am not veiling them in history. When I...