During his research into west coast history Patrick Howard found poetry was alive and well as the early west coasters found it useful to express their feelings in verse.Most of these poems were written in the period1891-1905. Apart from topics of local interest they covered the Boer War, World War I, and the burgeoning political scene of the Federation era.The poems give the modern reader an insight into the life, hardships, dangers and isolation faced b yearly prospectors and explorers.Bards of Tasmania's Old West brings some forgotten poets of the west coast to the fore.