"Ashes of Light" provides a broad spectrum of Levchev's work. This volume of new and selected poems testifies to the continuing vibrancy of this most critically acclaimed and most popular poet of Bulgaria. Although a major voice protesting against oppression, he is also known for his poems about love and death and the mystery of existence. His is an orphic voice, tender and prophetic.

His sympathy with the working class is evident in such poems as "Lullaby" and Gimmebreadye." He never lost his faith in socialist principles in spite of the crackdown on writers during the cold war. His...