That Ship Has Sailed synthesizes the serious and comic to address sex, love, loss, death, belief, the afterlife, and the past. The poems are honest and direct without sacrificing "e;the uncertainties, mysteries, and doubts"e; that Keats singles out in his notion of "e;negative capability,"e; alluded to in the title poem. Amplified by the poet's work as a traditional Irish musician and composer, language is the adhesive that brings the work together across the avant-garde to traditional forms and meters.