The poems of Elmer Diktonius place him in the forefront of literary expressionism. His idylls and his novel give him high rank among Northern Europe's greatest literary innovators in the twentieth century. He has an unusual drama because of his ambiguous involvement with the politics of the left and his hesitation between internationalism and a deep Finnish patriotism. George C. Schoolfield provides the uninitated reader with a biographical and critical overview of Diktonius's life and work and calls attention to his artistic triumphs, defeats, and contradictions.