Composed of eight sections, it narrates the thought processes of one cambrophile (lover of all things Welsh) English Catholic at Mass over the span of roughly seven seconds.

[1] Section I: "Rite and Fore-time" begins during a mid-twentieth century Mass, but quickly shifts to contemplate prehistoric ritual and myth-making.

[4] While in this brief summary and indeed upon first reading[5] the poem's structure may seem chaotic, Thomas Dilworth has celebrated The Anathemata's wide-open form as unique in being formally whole.

In lieu of any coherent plot, notes William Blissett, the eight sections of Jones' poem repeatedly revolve around the core history of man in Britain "as seen joyfully through Christian eyes as preparation of the Gospel and as continuation of Redemption in Christendom, with the Sacrifice of Calvary and the Mass as eternal centre.

In this respect, it is similar to The Cantos of Ezra Pound, or James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, and can confuse and mislead the over-attentive but impatient reader.

"[12] Finally, the Times Literary Supplement also gave a favourable review, but also accurately forecasted Dilworth's lament that it would be ignored: the text "bristles with too many arcane allusions for a reader to grasp the meaning within its magic without a great deal of that 'mugging-up' which shatters the poetic illusion."