Page 103 - Viva Real English 3 : Ebook

14 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.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

knew not : poet’s way of saying ‘did breathed a song : sang quietly
not know’ keen : (here) highly sensitive
swiftly : quickly oak : a type of tree

the sight could not follow it in its unbroke : not broken
fl ight : the eyes could not see
it flying

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