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
expressive eyes lovely
Eyes too expressive to be blue, / Too lovely to be grey.
children eye men
Children of men! the unseen Power, whose eye Forever doth accompany mankind, Hath look'd on no religion scornfully That men did ever find.
eye age wreaths
What is it to grow old? Is it to lose the glory of the form, The lustre of the eye? Is it for Beauty to forego her wreath? Yes; but not this alone.
eye heart past
Tis not to see the world As from a height, with rapt prophetic eyes, And heart profoundly stirred; And weep, and feel the fullness of the past, The years that are not more.
life eye taught-us
When Byron's eyes were shut in death, We bow'd our head and held our breath. He taught us little; but our soul Had felt his like a thunder roll. . . . We watch'd the fount of fiery life Which serv'd for that Titanic life.
christian eye men
At the present moment two things about the Christian religion must surely be clear to anybody with eyes in his head. One is, that men cannot do without it; the other, that they cannot do with it as it is.
eye whales sailing
Where great whales come sailing by, Sail and sail, with unshut eye, Round the world for ever and aye.
near neighbor patience sad
With close-lipped Patience for our only friend, Sad Patience, too near neighbor to Despair.
cannot fire heart kindle mystery soul spirit
We cannot kindle when we will / The fire which in the heart resides, / The spirit bloweth and is still, / In mystery our soul abides.
governing
The governing idea of Hellenism is spontaneity of consciousness; that of Hebraism, strictness of conscience.
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
hum land low majestic mist river solitary
But the majestic river floated on, / Out of the mist and hum of that low land, / Into the frosty starlight, and there moved, / Rejoicing, through the hushed Chorasmian waste, / Under the solitary moon.
demands effort greatest teach
...what thwarts us and demands of us the greatest effort is also what can teach us most.
bottom criticism poetry
Poetry is at bottom a criticism of life.