Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnoldwas an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator. Matthew Arnold has been characterised as a sage writer, a type of writer who chastises and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth24 December 1822
body folly thy
Let the victors, when they come, / When the forts of folly fall, / Find thy body by the wall.
energy genius affair
Genius is mainly an affair of energy.
goes hills knows life sea thinks
And then he thinks he knows The hills where his life rose, And the sea where it goes
born man river ship wanderer
A wanderer is man from his birth. / He was born in a ship / On the breast of the river of Time.
floor shine stars whose
From whose floor the new-bathed stars / Emerge, and shine upon the Aral Sea.
bring cannot cease cure doctor fame full ill nor phrase shake
Nor bring to see me cease to live,/ Some doctor full of phrase and fame,/ To shake his sapient head, and give/ The ill he cannot cure a name.
attic glory life mellow saw
Who saw life steadily, and saw it whole: / The mellow glory of the Attic stage.
demands effort greatest teach
...what thwarts us and demands of us the greatest effort is also what can teach us most.
arises grand nature noble serious severity simplicity style subject treats
The grand style arises in poetry, when a noble nature, treats with simplicity or with severity a serious subject
governing
The governing idea of Hellenism is spontaneity of consciousness; that of Hebraism, strictness of conscience.
enjoyed lived small
It is so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun, to have lived light in the spring, to have loved, to have thought, to have done.
english-poet perfection
Not a having and a resting, but a growing and becoming, is the character of perfection as culture conceives it.
morality religion simply touched
The true meaning of religion is thus, not simply morality, but morality touched by emotion.
god light pursuit reason sweetness works
The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light. . . ./ He who works for sweetness and light united, works to make reason and the will of God prevail.