Page 71 - 100 Best Loved Poems - Teaching Unit

“The Village Blacksmith”
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, pages 50-51

Vocabulary
sinewy – muscular
bellows – wind-tunnels, chimneys
chaff – tease
threshing – beating
repose – sleep

1. How does the speaker feel about the village blacksmith?

The speaker holds the blacksmith in high esteem as a hard worker, faithful man, loving
father, devoted husband, and worthy friend. He describes the blacksmith’s brow as “wet
with honest sweat,” and that in addition to earning whatever he can, he “owes not any
man.”

2. The third line of second stanza, “His brow is wet with honest sweat,” is an example of what
poetic technique?

The line is an example of internal rhyme.

3. What, according to the speaker, do children love about the blacksmith?

The children are particularly fascinated by the “flaming forge,” hearing “the bellows
roar,” and catching “the burning sparks” that fly from the fires he works with.

4. In stanzas five and six, what causes the blacksmith to think simultaneously of both his
daughter and his wife?

In these stanzas, the speaker tells the reader that when the blacksmith attends church on
Sunday, the voice of his daughter singing in the choir reminds him of his wife’s voice, who
he believes is singing in heaven.

5. What is the lesson taught by the blacksmith?

The blacksmith has taught the speaker (and others) the value of hard work, passion, and
dedication. Through his actions he has shown the ways to a successful life. Our lives, too,
are shaped each day by “each burning deed and thought.”

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