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Appreciation of the poem The Village Blacksmith, , Village Blacksmith is a thought provoking poem that talks about lives of working, class men. This poem is written by the famous American poet H.W Longfellow. The, poet welcomes us to the life of a village blacksmith. We know that a blacksmith is a, metal worker. The type of work he does every day has made his body metallic. The poet, says that the blacksmith’s his hands are sinewy (powerful) and his muscles are brawny, (strong) like iron bands., The blacksmith works tirelessly from morning to evening. Because of his continuous, work in his forge, his hair is crisp and oily. And because of exposure to heat, the color of, his face turned to tan (a brownish color). People who borrowed money or owe, something to others lower their heads. But our smith is not indebted to any man, anything and therefore he can look straightly into others’ eyes., , If we look at his forge, we will be able to see his bellows (a device constructed to, fill a strong blast of air.) blow and his heavy sledge (hammer) beat like a sexton ringing, the village bell. The works inside the forge is also a treat to the eyes of children. They, (children) love to see flaming forge and they hustle (make hurry) and jostle (push) to, catch the flying sparks that go like chaff from threshing floor., , Although our village blacksmith is a hardworking man, he is suffering from the, loss of his wife. His wife could have died in an accident that occurred in the forge. When, he hears his daughter’s voice in the church choir, which is similar to that of his wife, he, is reminded of her and wipes tears out of his eyes., , All types of emotions go through the life of blacksmith in this manner. He toils, (works hard), rejoices and feels sorrowful. He finishes his day’s task and rests, peacefully without worries unlike modern man. Modern man is always worried about his, future. But the village blacksmith is not worried about his life, but he continuous works, without any complaints. This is the main theme of the poem. Thus the poet asks us to

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carefully shape our future in the forge of life like the blacksmith did. We must plan life, carefully and live it without regrets. This is the lesson that we must learn from the life of, the blacksmith. Simile is the poetic device used more frequently in the poem (as iron, bands, like chaff from threshing floor etc).