The Arrow and the Song
The Arrow and the Song
Original Text
The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, with Bibliographical and Critical Notes, Riverside Edition (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1890), I, 234. PS 2250 E90 Robarts Library.
2It fell to earth, I knew not where;
3For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
4Could not follow it in its flight.
5I breathed a song into the air,
6It fell to earth, I knew not where;
7For who has sight so keen and strong,
8That it can follow the flight of song?
9Long, long afterward, in an oak
10I found the arrow, still unbroke;
11And the song, from beginning to end,
12I found again in the heart of a friend.
Notes
1] Longfellow wrote: "October 16, 1845. Before church, wrote The Arrow and the Song, which came into my mind as I stood with my back to the fire, and glanced on to the paper with arrow's speed. Literally an improvisation." (Editor, p. 234.) Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1845
Publication Notes
The Belfry of Bruges (1845)
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1998.
Rhyme