The Arrow and the Song
The Arrow and the Song - context Summary
Published 1845 in the Seaside
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's short lyric "The Arrow and the Song" was first published in 1845 in the collection The Seaside and the Fireside. Presented as a simple parable, it contrasts a literal arrow and a breathed song to suggest that actions and words travel beyond immediate sight and may be discovered later in unforeseen places. The poem's clear, didactic stance suited the popular, moralizing tone of mid‑19th‑century American verse.
Read Complete AnalysesI 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.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.