LAST EVE I passed beside a blacksmith's door, And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime; Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor Old hammers, worn with beating years of time. "How many anvils have you had," said I, "To wear and batter all these hammers so?" "Just one," said he, and then, with twinkling eye, "The anvil wears the hammers out, you know." And so, thought I, the anvil of God's Word, For ages skeptic blows have beat upon; Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard, The anvil is unharmed -- the hammers gone. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IMAGINARY ANCESTORS: THE GIRAFFE WOMAN OF BURMA by MADELINE DEFREES ISOLATION by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON MATERNITY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON MARJORIE'S WOOING by EMMA LAZARUS ITALIAN PICTURES: JULY IN VALLOMBROSA by MINA LOY DOMESDAY BOOK: CHARLES WARREN, THE SHERIFF by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |