THE ANVIL AND THE HAMMERS

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I stood one evening by the blacksmith's door

and heard the anvil ring the vesper chime,

And looking in, I saw upon the floor

old hammers worn with years of beating time.

"How many anvils have you had," said I,

"to wear and beat those hammers so?"

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"Just one," the blacksmith said, with a twinkling eye,

"The anvil wears the hammers out, you know."

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And so I thought, the Anvil of God's Word,

for ages skeptics' blows have beat upon.

And thought the sound of clanging blows is heard,

The anvil is unharmed, the hammers gone.