THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH

 

THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH  

“The Village Blacksmith” is an inspirational poem written by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 -1882).

A biographical  note says that he was one of the Fireside poets and is remembered for his place in the Romantic tradition. “Paul Revere’s Ride” which is a narrative, fictional account of the beginning of the Revolutionary War is considered his best work.

Another poem for which he is very popular is “A Psalm of Life” where he says:

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

 

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal:

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

 

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act so that each tomorrow may

find us farther than today.

 

In “The Village Blacksmith” he talks about the hard work which shapes our life.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,

You can hear him swing his heavy sledge

With a measured beat and slow,

Like a sexton ringing the village bell,

When the evenining sun is low.

                                    …….

And children coming home from school

Look in at the open door;

They love to see the flaming forge,

And hear the bellows roar,

And catch the burning sparks that fly

Like chaff from a threshing floor.

 

The Blacksmith goes to the Church on Sunday;  hears the parson pray and preach, also hears his daughter’s voice which sounds to him like her mother’s voice.

The poem ends with the following two stanzas a spiritual and philosophical touch.

Toiling, -rejoicing –sorrowing,

Onward through life he goes;

Each morning sees some task begin,

Each evening sees its close;

Something attempted, something done,

Has earned a night’s repose.

 

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,

For the lesson thou hast taught!

Thus at the flaming forge of life

Our fortunes must be wrought;

Thus on its sounding anvil shaped

Each burning deed and thought!

                                                            ********  

 

G.R.Kanwal

24 December 2024