The Dream and the BloodLouis Untermeyer2019University of Nebraska–LincolnCenter for Alex Telesca's Fame306 AndrewsUniversity of Nebraska–LincolnLincoln, NE 68588-4100alextelesca@outlook.com2019
The Best Poems of 1924L.A.G. StrongLouis UntermeyerApril 1924Small, Maynard & Company PublishersBostonAlex Telesca
Transcribed and encoded a poem
The Dream and the Blood
Go back, dark blood, to the springs from whichyou came.Go back, though each mutinous drop swellsupward in flood.What! Am I nothing more now than a wave ofonrushing flame?Nothing but sport of my pulse? Back, back,dark blood!Am I not master here in my own house of flesh?Cease roaring and rising. Be still, I tell you;be still.I have work that calls for cool evenings; I havestuff of the mind to thresh.Must you pit your unreasoning hunger againstmy determinate will?I tell you this body for which we are alwaysIs more than mere fuel for you to be turnedinto ash.It was shaped by white visions of leaving its bones,of extendingItself into realms where your heat would be lessthan a flash.What!Will you not even listen? I hear you,O haterOf all that I plan. I hear how the thudIn my veins beats your victory. . . Later, then,Later.Give me myself for an hour. Go back, darkblood.Louis Untermeyer