Everson's early poetry was highly secular and pantheistic. Much of it was written under the influence of Robinson Jeffers, whom Everson regarded as a mentor. The early poems are contained in Volume 1, The Residual Years.

Everson left religious life in 1969 to return to the secular world and marry Susanna Rickson, his third wife. Everson's later poems, published in this volume, show his maturation as a poet and a man. He has returned to nature, and much of his verse is both confessional and erotic.

The three volumes of the trilogy were actually planned by Everson during his life time and carried through to completion posthumously by the dedicated work of Allan Campo and Bill Hotchkiss, lifelong friends of the poet who edited the collection. They also collected Everson's unpublished verse and uncollected poems, which are published in the volumes as appendixes.