Sunday 6 January 2019

Anvil Or Hammer

In this world, a man must be either anvil or hammer.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, "The Story of Brother Bernardus", Hyperion
-copied from here.

This line by Longfellow is quoted at the beginning of Poul Anderson's After Doomsday, Chapter Five.

It is unnecessary to ask the relevance of the quotation. The few surviving Earthmen, surrounded by indifferent or hostile aliens, will continue to survive, and will then prosper, only if they make themselves hammers, not anvils.

Usually, we notice a quotation at the head of a chapter, then instantly forget it, but it must be there for a reason. The sequence of such quotations might summarize or encapsulate the plot of the novel.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Anvils don't have to always be understood negatively. Anvils are necessary tools for blacksmiths if they are going for successfully working with metal, and needs to be very strong. No matter how hard you beat down on the anvil with the hammer, it remains intact.

Sean