Patricia McCarthy is a serious poet and a seriously good one. Trodden Before touches deeply on a wide-ranging history, adding the author's own special imaginative warmth to the strange and challenging story of Colonel McCarthy. The story begins in Ireland in 1916 and moves from there across the globe, touching on her personal experience in the East. It is a journey beautifully told and worth following and the technical skill of the poet, applied with delicacy and grace, colours the tale with rhyme, half-rhyme and a widely-ranging linguistic awareness. The result is a subtly musical and enchanting mix of fact and fiction. A rich addition to Patricia's already substantial achievement. John F Deane, founder of Poetry Ireland.