The Arrow and the Song
The speaker shoots an arrow and breathes a song into the air without knowing where either falls. Long afterward, the speaker finds the arrow unbroken in an oak and the whole song in a friend's heart.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Reflective Poetry · 133 words
First lines
I shot an arrow into the air, / It fell to earth, I knew not where; / For, so swiftly it flew, the sight / Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air, / It fell to earth, I knew not where; / For who has sight so keen and strong, / That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak / I found the arrow, still unbroke; / And the song, from beginning to end, / I found again in the heart of a friend.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Three rhymed quatrains present a speaker's personal recollection of releasing and rediscovering an arrow and a song.
- Reflective Poetry — The parallel flights lead to a delayed discovery: the arrow remains intact, while the song endures in a friend's heart.
Tags
friendship · song · arrows · memory
What this Textopian page supports
The Arrow and the Song is listed on Textopian as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Reflective Poetry
- Length: 133 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
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