Totaro presents together for the first time modernised versions of ten of the most poignant of plague poems in the English language-each composed in heroic verse and responding to the urgent need to justify the ways of God in times of social, religious and political upheaval. Showcasing unusual combinations of passion and restraint, heart-wrenching lamentation and nation-building fervour, these epic poems function as literary memorials to the plague-time fallen.