Adah Isaacs Menken's short life was full and eventful. Probably born in the American South, she travelled, wrote journalism, became famous as an actress, successfully navigated press scandals about her private life and wrote poetry. This volume collects her poems, which explore, among other things, Judaism, the position of women in society and contemporary events such as the American Civil War. By turns introspective and ferocious, her poetry is as varied and fresh as it was when first published.