y. He wrote it first in life, last in life, and throughout life. REH completed around 300 stories for commercial sale, and worked on 300 more. But he wrote over 700 poems, virtually none of them meant for commercial markets. His first publication outside of his school was his poem "The Sea", published in a local paper. His famous "All fled, all done..." couplet, borrowed from Viola Garvin, was allegedly the last words he typed. And in between, poetry gushed from him.

Howard poured himself into his poetry, undisguised. What amazed him, what drew him, what scared him, what sickened him. He wasn't worried about what we the eventual readers would think of him as an author. And perhaps this is true of any real poet, the fearlessness of saying what one really wants to say.

This three-volume set includes all of Howard's poetry that has been found, including all the earlier draft versions, where such exist. This is indeed the Ultimate collection of Robert E. Howard poetry.