The Forge

SENSES'ring', 'hiss', 'the unpredictable fantail of sparks'

IMAGERY - SYMBOLISM'unicorn', 'an altar', 'the anvil', 'a door into the dark'

ONOMATOPOEIA'ring', 'hiss', 'clatter'

ASSONANCE'anvil's short-pitched ring'

CONSONANTS - MASCULINITY- MUSCULARITY'leather-aproned', 'recalls a clatter', 'grunts and goes in, with a slam and a flick'

MYSTERY - SACRED'horned as a unicorn', 'an altar'

OUTSIDE/INSIDE WORLD'Outside, old axles and iron hoops rustingInside, the hammered anvil's short-pitched ring.''Where he expends himself in shape and music'

PASSING OF TRADITIONAL CRAFTS - DEFIANCE, LAMENTATION, CHANGE'recalls a clatterOf hoofs where traffic is flashing in rows;Then grunts and goes in, with a slam and a flickTo beat real iron out, to work the bellows.'

UNROMANTICISED'old axles and iron hoops rusting''leather-aproned, hairs in his nose'

All I know is a door into the dark.Outside, old axles and iron hoops rusting; Inside, the hammered anvil's short-pitched ring, The unpredictable fantail of sparksOr hiss when a new shoe toughens in water.The anvil must be somewhere in the centre, Horned as a unicorn, at one end square, Set there immoveable: an altarWhere he expends himself in shape and music.Sometimes, leather-aproned, hairs in his nose, He leans out on the jamb, recalls a clatterOf hoofs where traffic is flashing in rows; Then grunts and goes in, with a slam and a flickTo beat real iron out, to work the bellows. 

Ability to subtly evoke resonance

Poetry writing

Extended metaphor

Heaney's imagination

Anvil - seed of creation

Ceremony - sacred art

Anachronism

Anachronism - something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing orperson that belongs to an earlier time

Movement from outside to inside

Quotes and notes

Links