The Poems of Matthew Arnold

by Matthew Arnold, Jenni Calder (Introduction), Kenneth Allott (Editor)

Gathers sonnets and narrative, love, lyric, and elegaic poems by the nineteenth-century British poet and critic

Genres: Poetry

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Poems, such as "Dover Beach" (1867), of British critic Matthew Arnold express moral and religious doubts alongside his Culture and Anarchy , a polemic of 1869 against Victorian materialism.

Matthew Arnold, an English sage writer, worked as an inspector of schools. Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of rugby school, fathered him and and Tom Arnold, his brother and literary professor, alongside William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew...

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first encountered Matthew Arnold in his riveting poem, "Dover Beach," way back when I was a freshman in college (over 60 years ago), and I found the melancholy atmosphere of loss mesmerizing, interesting when you consider I was only 18 and hardly had "suffered" anything yet to familiarize myself with loss.

Yet I have reread it frequently over the years since, finding that its observation about the "receding sea of faith" timely and his phrase "where ignorant armies clash by night" sadly continually valid.

And so I looked forward to reading a more comprehensive collection of his works.

Unfortunately, I soon found through this helpful volume from Penguin, that he was, indeed, firmly rooted in the Romantic tradition of the 19th century and, for me, this meant that many of his poems were, honestly, just not that interesting to me. I did enjoy several in the section of this book entitled "Lyric Poems," however.

Recommended for those who love 19th century literature, especially that in the Romantic vein.

[Abhik Gulati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Mr. Arnold. I might have seen young Byron lurking and smiling through those elegiacal verses of yours. Beautiful... Thank you for your contribution.

[Galicius · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Dover Beach"

[Tony · Rating 1 out of 5]

Heavy.