Robert Walser's poems, collected in this volume, originate from three different periods of his creative work and bear witness to various artistic attitudes and orientations. Unconcerned about formal and content-related conventions, Walser mixes humor and seriousness, the high and the trivial, parodistic play and critical reflection. In an environment of chat and guileless tinkering, images of great original power suddenly shine forth, offering statements of startling immediacy and urgency.