Song Of The Hammer

I am only a hammer, and yet I play

     My part in the world’s great game;

I’m dumb and heavy and cold, I know,

But with many a swing and many a blow

     I have beaten my way to fame.

I have broken the stones that buildings use,

     I have spanned the streams with steel;

I have broken the coal that pulls the loads,

I have spiked the rails of a thousand roads

     Till the thrill of life I feel.

I have driven the nails that bind the roofs

     O’er the heads of a million men;

I have beaten the iron, red with heat,

I have made the plant and machine complete,

     I am as mighty as sword or pen.

I am only a hammer and yet I play

     My part in this world of ken.

I am dull and dumb, just a bloodless thing,

But with many a blow and many a swing

     I have fashioned the dreams of men.

Jan. 12, 1914