In 1940, eight of MacLean's poems were printed in "17 Poems for 6d", along with Scots poems by Robert Garioch. The pamphlet sold better than expected and was reprinted a few weeks later; it received favourable reviews. While MacLean was in North Africa, he left his poetry with Douglas Young, who had promised to help publish it. In November 1943, the poems were published as "" (). "Dàin do Eimhir" was a sequence of sixty numbered poems, with twelve missing; of the other poems, the most significant was the long narrative poem "An Cuilthionn". The book marked a sharp break in style and substance of Gaelic poetry from earlier eras. In his poetry, MacLean emphasized the struggle between love and duty, which was personified in the poet's difficulty in choosing between his infatuation with a female figure, Eimhir, and what he sees as his moral obligation to volunteer in the Spanish Civil War.