The Arrow and the Song

H. W. Longfellow

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 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.