W. S. Graham began publishing his poetry in the early 1940s. The twisted syntax and crowded, shifting imagery so characteristic of his first volumes quickly led to his being termed a Scottish Dylan Thomas. However, despite this reliance upon Thomas as a model, he was a truly gifted poet. In fact, this early period later proved to be an apprenticeship leading to a more original style, one distinguished especially by its rhythmic qualities. One of the first products of this successful apprenticeship was "The Nightfishing," the title poem of Graham's fifth volume of verse. A long narrative poem employing a vital and forceful sea-imagery, "The Nightfishing" is the best known and most often praised of his works.

Born in Greenock to Alexander Graham, an engineer, and Margaret Macdiarmid Graham, William Sydney Graham spent his childhood on the west coast of Scotland, and his poems are often included in...