POETRY SPOT – THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH

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Postcard from the 1934 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago.

This one of those poems where most people know the first two lines but not the rest of the poem.

It is posted in full below with some preliminary and concluding comments.

There may not be as many blacksmiths these days but the message of the poem still rings true.

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1868 portrait

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 – 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems "Paul Revere's Ride", "The Song of Hiawatha", and "Evangeline". He was the first American to completely translate Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and was one of the fireside poets from New England.

Longfellow wrote many lyric poems known for their musicality and often presenting stories of mythology and legend. He became the most popular American poet of his day and had success overseas. He has been criticised for imitating European styles and writing poetry that was too sentimental.

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"The Village Blacksmith" was first published in 1840. It describes a local blacksmith and his daily life, the blacksmith serving as a role model who balances his job with the role he plays with his family and community.

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The Village Blacksmith

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Under a spreading chestnut-tree

The village smithy stands;

The smith, a mighty man is he,

With large and sinewy hands,

And the muscles of his brawny arms

Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long;

His face is like the tan;

His brow is wet with honest sweat,

He earns whate'er he can,

And looks the whole world in the face,

For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,

You can hear his bellows blow;

You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,

With measured beat and slow,

Like a sexton ringing the village bell,

When the evening 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.

He goes on Sunday to the church,

And sits among his boys;

He hears the parson pray and preach,

He hears his daughter's voice

Singing in the village choir,

And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother's voice

Singing in Paradise!

He needs must think of her once more,

How in the grave she lies;

And with his hard, rough hand he wipes

A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling,—rejoicing,—sorrowing,

Onward through life he goes;

Each morning sees some task begin,

Each evening sees it 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.

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Spoken rendition:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecmqN42K01U

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Synopsis and meaning:

The poem is about a local blacksmith. Noted as being strong, he works by the sweat of his brow and does not owe anyone anything. Children coming home from school stop to stare at him as he works, impressed by the roaring bellows and burning sparks. On Sundays, the blacksmith, a single father after the death of his wife, takes his children to church, where his daughter sings in the village choir. He goes through his life following the daily tasks assigned to him and has earned his sleep at night. The narrator concludes by thanking the blacksmith for the lessons he can teach.

The poem shows how a strong man like the blacksmith withstood the tragedy when he lost his dear wife. The poem conveys the simple lesson that everybody goes through struggles in life and that we are the real masters of our own life., illustrated a strong man like the blacksmith withstanding the tragedy when he lost his dear wife.

The poem reflects the themes of nature, optimism, and individuality. He is a symbol of honest labour and perseverance, a hardworking craftsman who takes pride in his craft.

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Some facts and trivia:

Longfellow said the poem was a tribute to his ancestor Stephen Longfellow, who had been a blacksmith, a schoolmaster, then a town clerk. In 1745, this ancestor was the first Longfellow to make his way to Portland, Maine, the town where the poet would be born.

The actual village blacksmith in the poem, however, was a Cambridge resident named Dexter Pratt, a neighbor of Longfellow's. Pratt's house is still standing at 54 Brattle Street in Cambridge.

The title character of "The Village Blacksmith", third from the left, depicted in the Longfellow Memorial by Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Image of a chair, original caption: "The chestnut arm-chair, the gift of the children of Cambridge." The chair was presented to Longfellow as a gift and was made from wood from a chestnut tree by the home of Dexter Pratt, local blacksmith, who had been made famous, along with the tree, in Longfellow's poem "The Village Blacksmith". The chair is still in the collection of the Longfellow National Historic Site in Cambridge, Massachusetts.