Matthew Arnold

Introduction
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) was a critic and teacher. He is ranked next to Tennyson and
Browning in literature. Arnold grew up in Laleham, in the valley of Thames. He graduated from Balliol
College, Oxford, which is reflected in the poems “The Scholar Gypsy” and “Thyrsis.” Like the men of
Oxford, Arnold too was occupied with classic dreams and ideals rather than the practical affairs of life.
After working for a short time in Rugby, he travelled and examined teachers for thirty-five years in
England and abroad, and contributed well to poetry and criticism. Hs literary work can be divided into
three periods: the poetical, the critical and the practical. His first volume of poetry was The Strayed
Reveller and Other Poems (1849), which appeared anonymously. He died suddenly in 1888 at the
height of his fame.

Works of Matthew Arnold

Arnold’s poetry has two characteristics. First, his doubts and questions on religion—in spite of
having grown up as a Christian—are reflected in his poems. Second, he regards poetry as an element
of reason than of instinct. His poetry is cold, critical and hardly enthusiastic. He protests against the
tendency of English poets to use brilliant phrases and figures of speech that remove attention from the
poem as a whole. Greek poetry was his “sure guidance to what is sound and true in poetical art.”

Balder Dead (1855) and Sohrab and Rustum (1853) are the best of his narrative poems. The
theme of Sohrab and Rustum is taken from the Shah-Namah (Book of Kings) of the Persian poet
Firdausi who lived and wrote during the 11th century. Arnold writes it in blank verse. However, the
poem lacks in harmony, melody and rhythm. Arnold also authored a number of elegies namely
“Thyrsis”, “The Scholar Gypsy”, “Memorial Verses”, “Southern Night”, “Obermann”, “Stanzas from the
Grande Chartreuse” and “Rugby Chapel.” The best of the elegies is “Thyrsis”, a lament for the poet
Clough. It is ranked with Milton’s “Lycidas” and Shelley’s “Adonais.” He also penned a few minor
poems such as “Dover Beach”, “Switzerland”, “Shakespeare” and “Philomela.”

The best of Arnold’s prose works is Essays in Criticism. He says, “The business of criticism
is neither to find fault nor to display the critic’s own learning or influence; it is to know ‘the
best which has been thought and said in the world.’” The notable works of his practical period are
Literature and Dogma (1873) and Culture and Anarchy (1869). In Culture and Anarchy, Arnold
classifies the English society into three groups: the Barbarians, the Philistines and the Populace. The
Barbarians are people with lofty spirit, serenity and inaccessibility to ideas. The Philistines are
religious non-conformists with plenty of energy and morality, but without sweetness and light. The
Populace are the blind people. In Literature and Dogma, Arnold pleads for liberality in religion. He
writes that the Bible could be critically evaluated like any other work.

Conclusion
Arnold’s influence on literature is rather intellectual than inspirational. Despite reflecting
doubts, sorrows and notes of sadness, his poems are distinguished by clearness, simplicity and
restrained emotions read in the classics. His “cold intellectual quality” makes his poetry lack romantic
feelings; and it leads him to approach literature with an open mind and the single desire to find “the
best which has been thought and said in the world.”


Refer to Page no. 548 of your text book.