Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“I shot an arrow into the air,”

I shot an arrow into the air,It fell to earth, I knew not where;For, so swiftly it flew, the sightCould 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 oakI found the arrow, still unbroke;And the song, from beginning to end,I found again in the heart of a friend.

Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1893 · The Arrow and the Song
Passage page · Read the full text

Read it in context Copy with credit

Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Work: The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Year: 1893
Chapter / part: The Arrow and the Song
Length: 88 words
Source: Project Gutenberg eBook #1365

Public domain. This passage is in the public domain. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died in 1882, more than 70 years ago, and the work was first published in 1893. You can copy, print, read aloud or sell it without asking permission; a credit is kind but not required. The text is copied word for word from the Project Gutenberg edition linked here.

Friendship Friendship

Related passages

Toasts, celebration & friendship

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,And never brought to mind?Should auld acquaintance be forgot,And auld lang syne!Chorus.—For auld lang syne, my dear,For auld lang syne.We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,For auld lang syne.

Robert BurnsPoems and Songs of Robert Burns, 1788 · Auld Lang Syne
Passage page · Read the full text

Toasts, celebration & friendship

A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud.

Ralph Waldo EmersonEssays: First Series, 1841 · Friendship
Passage page · Read the full text

Toasts, celebration & friendship

Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.

L. M. MontgomeryAnne of Green Gables, 1908 · Chapter XIX: A Concert, a Catastrophe, and a Confession
Passage page · Read the full text

Toasts, celebration & friendship

And let your best be for your friend. If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also. For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill? Seek him always with hours to live.

Kahlil GibranThe Prophet, 1923 · On Friendship
Passage page · Read the full text

Toasts, celebration & friendship

And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

Kahlil GibranThe Prophet, 1923 · On Friendship
Passage page · Read the full text

New passages, now and then

We keep adding passages and collections. Leave your email and we’ll tell you when something new lands.

Optional. One short email per new collection, and nothing else.

“I shot an arrow into the air,”

Related passages

More by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Words for an occasion

New passages, now and then