<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">The Anvil</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line"><span class="smallcaps">Burned</span> from the ore's rejected dross,</p><p class="line">The iron whitens in the heat.</p><p class="line">With plangent strokes of pain and loss</p><p class="line">The hammers on the iron beat.</p><p class="line">Searched by the fire, through death and dole</p><p class="line">We feel the iron in our soul.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">O dreadful Forge! if torn and bruised</p><p class="line">The heart, more urgent comes our cry</p><p class="line">Not to be spared but to be used,</p><p class="line">Brain, sinew, and spirit, before we die.</p><p class="line">Beat out the iron, edge it keen,</p><p class="line">And shape us to the end we mean!</p></div><p class="byline">Laurence Binyon</p></body></html> · Great War