A representative figure of British poetry in the 1950s, Heath-Stubbs was a powerful and prolific poet and translator who left over 30 poetry collections and numerous translations of both modern and classical poetry.

He wrote highly refined and elaborate poems that were widely influenced by, but not limited in, several different literary trends such as Romanticism and Classicism. The extensive amount of typescripts of poems in this collection well show Heath-Stubbs's creativity, while careful numbering and notes on those scripts provide a chance to see the poet's process of revising and editing poems for publication. His deep interest and learning in Classicism can also be seen in his translations of ancient Greek and Roman poetry, although his translation also covered Modern poetry in French and other languages. As an influential poet in his time , he interacted and sometimes worked together with other important writers, such as Theodore Roethke and Peter Russell. His friendship is reflected on not only the huge volume of correspondence but also works and comments he exchanged with other authors.