# Longfellow explained — Poetry > Chapter companion for Poetry by Henry van Dyke Jr.. ## What happens In a bustling new land full of labor and noise, a shepherd-like poet quietly sings, tending his flock with music. He draws inspiration from everyday scenes and ancient tales, but tragedy strikes when a flaming arrow kills his dearest, plunging him into sorrow. Emerging from darkness, he continues singing, and his simple, orderly melodies attract a diverse audience of weary souls, who find solace in his music over the clamor of modern poets. He eventually climbs a mountain, perhaps Parnassus, still singing. ## Themes in this chapter ### Art and Poetic Vocation The shepherd-poet's quiet, persistent singing in a noisy world embodies the poet's calling to create beauty and order through art. ### Grief and Memory The flaming arrow that kills the dearest lamb leads the shepherd into a 'mystical temple of sorrow,' from which he emerges still singing, transformed by grief. ### The Pilgrimage of Life The poet's journey from the tumult of the land to the mountain, and the diverse human faces drawn to his music, reflect life's pilgrimage toward meaning and solace. ## Character check-ins ### Unknown The narrator who hears the singing and observes the shepherd-poet's journey. ### the Master The shepherd-poet who sings quietly amid the tumult, tending his flock and later grieving a loss. ## Key lines > In a great land, a new land, a land full of labour and riches and confusion, Where there were many running to and fro, and shouting, and striving together, In the midst of the hurry and the troubled noise, I heard the voice of one singing. In a bustling, prosperous, and chaotic new country, amid all the rushing and clamor, I heard someone singing calmly. _Sets the scene of a noisy, modern world contrasted with the poet's serene song._ > Then a flaming arrow of death fell on his flock, and pierced the heart of his dearest! Silent the music now, as the shepherd entered the mystical temple of sorrow: Long he tarried in darkness there: but when he came out he was singing. A sudden tragedy killed his most beloved, silencing his music as he entered a deep, dark grief; after a long time in that sorrow, he emerged and resumed his singing. _Describes the poet's personal loss and his eventual return to art through mourning._ > So the shepherd sang his way along, until he came unto a mountain: And I know not surely whether the mountain was called Parnassus, But he climbed it out of sight, and still I heard the voice of one singing. The poet continued singing as he traveled, eventually reaching a mountain—possibly Parnassus—and climbed beyond view, but his singing could still be heard. _Ends with the poet ascending to a symbolic height of inspiration, his song enduring._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se/chapters/longfellow - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se/chapters