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.
3. 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.
4. It sounds to him like her mother’s voice,
Singing is 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Forge - a furnace where metals are
heated and wrought
eg : The blacksmith’s forge was
once a feature of all villages.
8. Bellows - an equipment that blows a
strong current of air to make fire burn
more fiercely.
Eg : The blacksmith worked with the
bellows to make the piece of iron hot.
9. Chaff - hunk of grain separated
during threshing.
Eg : The first step is to separate the
chaff from the grain.
10. Thresh - to separate grains of corn,
rice, etc. from the rest of the plant
using a machine or by hitting it
with a tool.
11. Preach - to give a religious talk in a
public place, especially in a church
during a service.
Eg : She preached to the gathering
about forgiveness.
12. Toil - work extremely hard
eg : We toiled away.
14. • The slow swinging of his heavy sledge
is like a sexton ringing the village
bell.
• The burning sparks are like chaff
from a threshing floor.
15. • What does the blacksmith do on
Sundays? How does he feel?
• What is the blacksmith reminded of
when he hears his daughter’s voice
singing in the village choir?
• What would have happened to the
blacksmith’s wife? Pick out lines
from the poem to justify your
answer?
• Pick out the words related to a
blacksmith’s job from the poem?
17. The blacksmith is a hardworking
man. He is a mighty man. He has
large sinewy hands. The muscles of
his brawny arms are strong as iron
bands. His hair is crisp, black and
long. His face is like the tan. He is
engaging in his work from morning to
night. Every Sunday he goes to
church which makes his heart
rejoice. He earns money from his job
and leads a happy life.
