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

I breathed a song into the air
It fell to the earth, I know not where;
For who has sight to 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.