This collection of poems, written during the same period as Steppenwolf, was first published in 1928 in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. Hesse's uneasiness about the degree of self-exposure in these quite untypical poems is evident in that the majority (and many of the best) were never reprinted during his lifetime. Astonishingly frank and raw at times, they reflect his effort to balance the constraints of his intellectual life with his longing for the free experiences of the senses. Together with Steppenwolf-the link with that novel is unmistakable-Crisis served as a catharsis for Hesse, bringing to its climax a difficult period of questioning and despair.