343 and 344
The forge! The forge! Of seventy and two,
the forge of man that houses me and you!
How beautiful its flames, and hammer, too,
how wonderful what we are made into!
While here, why not enjoy what we may do,
and why not also take joy in the view?
Behold, the pieces that have hitherto
endured this furnace well, and thusly grew!
It is not easy, that is surely true,
what masterpieces that we do pursue,
but also never pretty in the flue--
this is the place for progress, not debut.
The forge! Where fail none but the very few
who bend not in the fires of review.
~~~
See now, how well the Blacksmith fired Job
who took the forge with much more grace than most,
and earned a sweet replacement for the robe
he tore, when, of the Blacksmith, he did boast.
And how unique (or not so strange) the Rock
was molded, hammered, alloyed o’er and o’er,
who learned to trade his robe for simple smock,
and phosphorus for steel, tho it was sore.
How ugly was the fire ‘round the ore
who ledgered law against the word of God.
How merciful the hammer, tho ‘twas sore,
when Zeezrom was freed from his facade.
The forge is never easy, but is true
to those who let a piece of fire through.