With this new collection, Peter Porter shows his maturity as a poet and displays his ability to work in a variety of forms. The “oracle” of the title is the English language, with the poet acting as a “priest” bound to carry messages to the outside world. Porter’s themes here are childhood, dreams, painting, history, and most important, words and their responsibilities. Porter was made a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in 2007, an honour only given to a maximum of ten living writers.