Before we mothernaked fall

by Dylan Thomas

Poem “Eleven” in Notebook “Started 23rd August 1933”; dated September 16, 1933

Before we mothernaked fall
Upon the land of gold or oil
Between the raid and the response
Of flesh and bones
Our claim is staked for one and all
Near to the quarry or the well
Before the promises fulfill
And joys are pains.

Then take the gushes or the field
Where all the hidden stones are gold
We have no choice our choice was made
Before our blood
And I will build my liquid world
And you, before the breath is cold
And doom is turned and veins are spilled,
Your solid land.