Paul Muldoon, who reviewed the collection for the "London Review of Books", had a slightly more temperate reaction. He considered the 25 lyrics comprising the first part of the collection to be the strongest of the three parts and the third part, "Sweeney Redivivus" to be the weakest. He concluded, however, on a positive note writing that, "not even the weak third section of "Station Island" can take away from the fact that this is a resourceful and reliable collection, his best since "Wintering Out"."