“The Alchemist” appears in Louise Bogan’s poetry collection Dark Summer (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1929). In his essay, “The Poetry of Louise Bogan,” Theodore Roethke observed: “The body of her complete poetic work is not great, but the ‘range,’ both emotional and geographical, is much wider than might be expected from a lyric poet. […] Her poems can be read and reread: they keep yielding new meanings, as all good poetry should. The ground beat of the great tradition can be heard, with the necessary subtle variations. Bogan is one of the true inheritors. Her poems create their own reality, and demand not just attention, but the emotional and spiritual response of the whole man. Such a poet will never be popular, but can and should be a true model for the young. And the best work will stay in the language as long as the language survives.”