The Blacksmith's Angel <META name="description" content="The Blacksmith's Angel"> <META name="keywords" content="Two poems about old blacksmiths, 0ne well-known by Longfellow; illustratios of shop items, with documentation; a picture of an huge chestnut tree. and a short paragraph describing the near demise of that grand old tree; music.

Please scroll down then the text will scroll alone.

UnderA Spreading Chestnut Tree

THE BLACKSMITH

The Village Blacksmith
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.

[1]
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.

[2]
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 haul, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.

[3]
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.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [4]

THE ANGEL

The Blacksmith's Dream [5]

Last evening I was walking
With a blacksmith old and gray
When he told me of a dream he had,
I think 'twas Christmas day.
While snoozing in his chair
This vision came to view,
For he saw an angel enter,
Dressed in garments white and new.
Said the angel: "I'm from heaven
The Lord just sent me down
To bring you up to glory
And put on your golden crown.
You've been a friend to everyone,
And worked hard, night and day;
You've supported many thousands
And from few received your pay.
So we want you up in glory,
For you have labored hard
And the good Lord is preparing
Your eternal, just reward."
Then the angel and the blacksmith
Started up towards glory's gate.
But when passing close to Hades
The angel murmured, "Wait...
I've a place I wish to show you;
It's the hottest place in hell,
Where the ones who never paid you
In torment forever dwell."
And behold the blacksmith saw there
His old patrons by the score;
And grabbing up a chair and fan
He wished for nothing more.
He desired to sit and watch them
As they'd sizzle, singe and burn
And his eyes would rest on debtors,
Whichever way they'd turn.
Said the angel, "Come on, blacksmith
... here are pearly gates to see."
But the blacksmith only muttered,
"This is heaven enough for me."

[1] Old blacksmith shop at Armstrong Creek, Wisconsin.

[2] "I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license:"
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. In short: you are free to distribute and modify the file as long as you attribute its author(s) or licensor(s). commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_bellow.jpg

[3] Inside a blacksmith shop.

[4] Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Born February 27, 1807, Portland, Maine Died: March 24, 1882, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
"Voices of the Night," Longfellow's debut book of poetry included nine original poems, and seven poems he had written as a teenager. "Ballads and Other Poems" was published shortly thereafter in 1841 and included "The Village Blacksmith" and "The Wreck of the Hesperus", which were instantly popular.

[5] "The Blacksmith's Dream" From the August, 1909 issue of "The Horseshoer' Journal" Compliments of Bill Miller, Olympia, Washington

[6]

The American Chestnut Tree

[6] In 1904 an Asian fungus was discovered as the blight that destroyed this American treasure. By 1950 an estimated 4 billion American chestnut trees were destroyed by the blight imported to the US on Asian chestnut trees. The fungus dispersed spores that found their way into a fresh injury in the tree's bark and spreads killing tissue as it advances until the flow of nutrients is completely choked off killing the tree.

Featured Music: "Heirlooms"

Graphic Design by: