Saffron Park is an artist’s colony in London populated by self-proclaimed poets, scientists, and philosophers. Among the people in the park is Lucian Gregory, a red-haired, anarchic poet. Gregory’s theory of poetry is that artists and anarchists both delight in disorder and are therefore the same. He adds, “An artist disregards all governments, abolishes all conventions. The poet delights in disorder only” (3).

Protagonist Gabriel Syme, meanwhile, is “a poet of law, order, and respectability” (2). He meets Gregory in the park, and the two debate poetry. Syme counters Gregory’s claims that poetry is chaos and says law and order are poetic. He adds that law and order are man’s victory over chaos. The two continue to debate their respective points of view as Gregory’s sister, Rosamond, watches.

Syme’s dismissive attitude antagonizes Gregory. He declares Gregory is not a serious anarchist and walks away. A concerned Rosamond joins Syme and ask him if he thinks her brother would use bombs to hurt people. Syme tells her Gregory could never really be an anarchist because he enjoys attention too much. Syme rejoins Gregory who is irritated by Syme’s claim that he isn’t a serious anarchist.