Mathew Arnold Study of Poetry

1. 1. Study of Poetry- Mathew Arnold

2. 2. Wrote extensively on social and cultural issues, religion, and education Father of modern
literary criticism Foremost poets and critics of the 19th centuryIntroductionMatthew Arnold
3. 3. Arnolds most famous piece of literary criticism is his essay TheStudy of Poetry.In this
work, Arnold is fundamentally concerned with poetrys highdestiny; he believes that
mankind will discover that we have toturn to poetry to interpret life for us, to console us, to
sustain us asscience and philosophy will eventually prove flimsy and unstable.
4. 4. At the root of Arnolds argument is his desire to illuminate and preservethe poets he
believes to be the touchstones of literature, and to askquestions about the moral value of
poetry that does not champion truth,beauty, valor, and clarity.
5. 5. According to ArnoldThe future of poetry is immense, because in poetry, where it is worthy
of its highdestinies, our race, as time goes on, will find an ever surer and surer stay.There is
not a creed which is not shaken, not an accredited dogma which is notshown to be
questionable, not a received tradition which does not threaten todissolve.Our religion has
materialised itself in the fact, in the supposed fact; it has attachedits emotion to the fact, and
now the fact is failing it.But for poetry the idea is everything; the rest is a world of illusion, of
divine illusion.Poetry attaches its emotion to the idea; the idea is the fact.The strongest part
of our religion to-day is its unconscious poetry
6. 6. Victorian CriticismArt and Morality: Art for Arts sakeCarlyle Ruskin : Moral view should be
the benchmark to judge thework of literature. Art should be for the betterment of life.Art and
Aesthetic pleasure: Art for Arts sakeWalter Pater and Oscar Wilde: Aesthetic and artistic
delight should be thebenchmark to judge the work of literature. Art should be for delight
andpleasure of mankind.
7. 7. Mathew Arnold The CriticThe business of criticism, is not to find fault nor to display the
critics own learningor influence, but it is to know the best which has been thought and said
in theworld and by using this knowledge to create a current of fresh and free thought.The
Study of Poetry: The first essay in the 1888 volume was originally published as thegeneral
introduction to T.H. Wards anthology, The English Poets ( 1880)His Classicism: He did not
like the spasmodic expression of Romanticism. He advocateddiscipline in writing and
recommended the classical writers.
8. 8. He says-We should conceive of it as capable of higher uses, and called to higherdestinies,
than those which in general men have assigned to it hitherto. Moreand more mankind will
discover that we have to turn to poetry to interpretlife for us, to console us, to sustain
us.Without poetry, our science will appear incomplete; and most of what nowpasses with us
for religion and philosophy will be replaced by poetry.If we conceive thus highly of the
destinies of poetry, we must also set ourstandard for poetry high, since poetry, to be capable
of fulfilling such highdestinies, must be poetry of a high order of excellence. We must
accustomourselves to a high standard and to a strict judgment.
9. 9. A MoralistAs a critic Arnold is essentially a moralist, and has very definite ideas aboutwhat
poetry should and should not be. A poetry of revolt against moral ideas,he says, is a poetry
 of revolt against life, and a poetry of indifference tomoral ideas is a poetry of indifference to
life.
10. 10. According to Arnold, Homer is the best modelof a simple grand style, while Milton is
thebest model of severe grand style. Dante,however, is an example of both. I think it will be
found that that the grandstyle arises in poetry when a noble nature,poetically gifted, treats
with simplicity orwith a severity a serious subject. Aristotle says that poetry is superior
toHistory since it bears the stamp of highseriousness and truth. If truth andseriousness are
wanting in the subject matterof a poem, so will the true poetic stamp ofdiction and movement
be found wanting inits style and manner. Hence the two, thenobility of subject matter, and
thesuperiority of style and manner, areproportional and cannot occur independently.Arnold
took up Aristotles view, asserting thattrue greatness in poetry is given by the truthand
seriousness of its subject matter, and bythe high diction and movement in its styleand
manner, and although indebted to JoshuaReynolds for the expression grand style,Arnold
gave it a new meaning when he usedit in his lecture On Translating Homer (1861):
11. 11. Future of PoetryThe future of poetry is immense, because in poetry, our race, as time
goeson, will find an even surer and surer stay. There is not a creed which is notshaken. But
for poetry, the idea is everything; the rest is a world ofilluision, of divine illusion. Poetry
attaches emotion to the idea,; the idea isa fact. The strongest part of our religion, to-day is its
unconscrious poetry.We have to turn to poetry to interpret life for us, to console us, to
sustainus. Without poetry, our science will appear incomplete, and most of whatnow passes
with us for religion and philosophy will be replaced by poetry.
12. 12. Poetry is Criticism of Life-Arnold asserts that literature, and especially poetry, isCriticism
of life.- In poetry, this criticism of life must conform to the laws of poetic truthand poetic
beautyTruth and seriousness of matter, felicity and perfection of diction andmanner, as are
exhibited in the best poets, are what constitutes acriticism of life.
13. 13. Key components of PoetryThus, the superior character of truth and seriousness, in the
matter andsubstance of the best poetry, is inseparable from the superiority of diction
andmovement marking its style and manner
14. 14. Even Chaucer, in Arnolds view, in spite of his virtues such asbenignity, largeness, and
spontaneity, lacks seriousness.Burns too lacks sufficient seriousness, because he was
hypocriticalin that while he adopted a moral stance in some of his poems, in hisprivate life he
flouted morality.
15. 15. Return to Classical valuesArnold believed that a modern writer should be aware that
contemporary literature is builton the foundations of the past, and should contribute to the
future by continuing a firmtradition. Quoting Goethe and Niebuhr in support of his view, he
asserts that his age suffersfrom spiritual weakness because it thrives on self-interest and
scientific materialism, andtherefore cannot provide noble characters such as those found in
Classical literature.He urged modern poets to look to the ancients and their great characters
and themes forguidance and inspiration. Classical literature, in his view, possess pathos,
moral profundityand noble simplicity, while modern themes, arising from an age of spiritual
weakness, aresuitable for only comic and lighter kinds of poetry, and dont possess the
loftiness to supportepic or heroic poetry.Arnold turns his back on the prevailing Romantic
view of poetry and seeks to revive theClassical values of objectivity, urbanity, and
 architectonics. He denounces the Romantics forignoring the Classical writers for the sake of
novelty, and for their allusive (Arnold uses theword suggestive) writing which defies easy
comprehension.
16. 16. Work Citedhttp://www.english-
literature.org/essays/arnold.phphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_ArnoldArnolds
evaluations of the Romantic poets such as Wordsworth, Byron,Shelley, and Keats are
landmarks in descriptive criticism, and as a poet-critic he occupies an eminent position in the
rich galaxy of poet-critics ofEnglish literature.