William Morris' many-sided career placed him at the centre of an age and culture he both condemned and shaped. Hailed now-a-days as a pioneer of modern design, he was best known to his contemporaries as a poet. A man of immense energy, charm and imagination, Morris learned to turn private grief to public purpose. Having failed as an architect and a painter, he succeeded as a weaver, dyer, calligrapher, printer, businessman, journalist and novelist.