The
Arrow and the Song
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
interpreted by Magali Denard
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 a 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.
Poet: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born
on February 27, 1807, in Portland, Maine. He attended Bowdoin College
and graduated in 1825. During his college years his poems were already
appearing in several national magazines. He was especially good at languages
and was offered a professorship in modern languages, if he would study
in Europe. While he was in Europe, he learned French, Italian, and Spanish,
but never stayed at one university for very long. When he came back to
the United States, in 1829, he became a librarian and a professor. He
disliked his job, but was soon offered a professorship from Harvard along
with a chance to travel once again. This time, he visited Sweden, Germany,
England, And the Netherlands. After the death of his first wife he moved
to Heidelburg, Germany, Where he was greatly influenced by the German
Romanticists. Later, he returned to Harvard and there was in charge of
the language program for 18 years. The death of his second wife resulted
in his writing many of his most famous poems, such as "Paul Revere's
Ride." Longfellow died in 1882, on March 24, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He has been said to have been the most popular United States poet of the
1800's.
Vocabulary: Keen - having or marked by intellectual
quickness and acuity.
Type of poem: Lyric
Speaker: The speaker is presumably the poet.
Audience: The audience is general.
Tone: This poem's tone is awed, joyful, inspired.
Meaning: The poet is making an analogy, comparing the arrow
to real life, and the song to feelings. He wishes to convey to his audience
that although the arrow/real life is usually visible to the eye, the song/feelings
are not any less real just because they are invisible. He even insinuates
that real life and feelings can sometimes merge together into one entity.
Structure of poem: The poem is made up of
3 stanzas of 4 lines each
Examples of poetic techniques used in the poem:
Arrow/Real
Life & Song/Feelings |
Analogy |
Connection between the poem and the poet's life and/or
times: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was continually traveling
and meeting new people. He probably was relating his relationships with
other people to a broader subject to get his point across.
Most memorable quote from the poem: "Long, long afterward,
in an oak/ I found the arrow, still unbroke"
© Smelli Notes 2001
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