Quotations and Literature Forum

THE ARROW AND THE SONG

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.

It has been written (or said) that Longfellow seldom wrote in the abstract. The arrow flies as a rhyme but the song seems to loose wind in its flight. Both are lost and both are eventually recovered. In a case of more or less, it is more abstract than not. There seems to be a question within the arrow. The song is somewhat of an enigma because it is a song without words. Popular wisdom would suggest there are two separate meanings in this poem.

What is the significance of the arrow?

What is the significance of the song?

The Arrow & The Song is not easily defined as a poem. I would define it as a poetic parable. It illustrates two deeds and two consequences. The significance of the arrow (in my opinion) is to illustrate the far reaching effect of a deed. Sometimes we do things in our life without a particular reason or motive. Later in life we might discover the consequence of that deed. As an archer, I can tell you that looking for a lost arrow can be disenchanting. Consequently, finding a lost arrow can be rewarding. Not long ago I found one of the first arrows that I ever lost. It was Bear, metic magnum (aluminum shaft) that I purchased in the spring of 1976. I found it on my parents land this spring. The plastic vanes (fletchings) were faded.

Robin Hood also shot an arrow into the air - to choose the site of his grave.

"Kirklees has been known as the place of Robin Hood's burial since at least the early sixteenth century; but just how long the grave has actually existed remains a mystery. The eighteenth century garland version of Robin Hood's Death, tells us that the dying outlaw chose his own burial place by shooting his last arrow from a window in the nunnery ('And where this arrow is taken up, There shall my grave digged be')"

Henry

This may be too simplistic but I have heard the arrow described as an unkind hurtful remark and the song as a verbal kindness.