In poems gathered into three sections under the titles "Letters from Maine", "A Winter Garland", and "Letters to Myself", Sarton''s inspiration was a new, brief, and passionate love affair. The book celebrates that time, marks its passing, and opens up the poetic vision it left behind. The poems speak of the permanence of the memory of love and of the flowering it brings. They also draw on the rich, sometimes harsh, beauty of nature and its solace.