The suites are loosely organised by genre and themes, which include the carpe diem motif, theistic epiphanies, nature depictions, snapshots from travels and reflections on death.

[1] In November 1990, Tomas Tranströmer suffered a stroke which paralysed the right side of his body and damaged his ability to speak.

[2] The haiku in The Great Enigma were not written with a strict adherence to classic conventions, but do follow the rule of three lines with five, seven and five syllables.

[4] In April the book was released on CD, read by actor Krister Henriksson, and accompanied by Tranströmer on piano, performing bits by Josef Mattias Hauer, Federico Mompou, Maurice Karkoff, Cor de Groot and Werner Wolf Glaser with his left hand.

[5] Svenska Dagbladet's critic wrote: "When reading [the first five poems] you are delighted by the natural easiness which always has characterised Tranströmer's poetry, in the following haikus by the formal restraint and discipline which makes up the other side of his authorship - not a word too much!"