But infancy and human life is not always shining and noble in these poems. In contrast to 'Twelfth Night' stands 'Penrhys' with its 'cartons and condoms and a few stray sheets of newspaper that the wind sticks across his face' and 'thin teenage mothers by the bus stop'. Ranging from subjects Biblical to this cold council estate in the Rhondda Valley, and from the music of Bach to that of Ann Griffiths, The Poems of Rowan Williams is a unique and profound collection by an eminent thinker, humanist and Welshman.