The Arrow and the Song

I shot an arrow in the air.
It fell to earth I know not where;
For so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in flight.

I breathed a song into the air.
It fell to earth I know not where;
For who has sight do keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of song?

Lon, long afterwards, 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