[1] Printed by the Caxton Press in an edition of 25 copies, it was the last work by the author published during his life.
In the spring of 1891, Melville prepared a collection of poems for press, with the assistance of his wife, Elizabeth.
[3] The consistent theme running throughout these poems is the author's devotion to Art.
It depicts a character (based on the historical Timoleon) who is unappreciated and exiled until war brings him to fight for his people.
Melville at the time similarly saw himself as an unappreciated would-be savior of literature.