One day I passed beside a smithy's door,

And heard the anvil sound the vesper chime;
Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor,
Old hammers worn with beating years of time.

" How many anvils have you here," said I,
"To wear and batter all these hammers so ?"
'' Just one! " the blacksmith said, with twinkling eye;
"The anvil wears the hammers out, you know."

" And, so," said I, "the anvil of God's Word
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the sound of hammers thus was heard,
The anvil yet remains; the hammers-gone! "

-Selected