Songs Sacred and Profane is a selection from Thomas' four other books and eight chapbooks plus many poems that have not appeared in book form. This volume contains, in fact, two quite different books published as one. "Greenside Up", written almost entirely looking into his garden, is made up of bucolic works which observe nature and a quiet life. They are well mannered, introspective, and show the poet's sensitivity to language and his world. "Let It All Hang Out" lets loose with poems that show Thomas' acerbic wit at times, his wry approach to human foibles, and his personal take on religion coupled with various aspects of love, mutability, and mortality.