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Matthew Arnold: How to Know Him
Excerpt from Matthew Arnold: How to Know Him
Conception of the True Poet: Resignation Empedocles Condemned - Classical Doctrine on the Choice of Poetical Subjects - Classical Intention in the Long Poems - Counter-claims of Reason and Passion in Tristram and Iseult - C1assical Balance in Sohrab and Rustum Arnold on Balder Dead Defects of the Sub ject - Sophocles and merope-the Forsaken Merman.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Conception of the True Poet: Resignation Empedocles Condemned - Classical Doctrine on the Choice of Poetical Subjects - Classical Intention in the Long Poems - Counter-claims of Reason and Passion in Tristram and Iseult - C1assical Balance in Sohrab and Rustum Arnold on Balder Dead Defects of the Sub ject - Sophocles and merope-the Forsaken Merman.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
- GenresPoetry
347 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1939
About the author
Stuart Pratt Sherman
89 books1 followerStuart Pratt Sherman, American journalist, critic and writer.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 14, 2016
Although I think Dover Beach is a poem to be admired, the rest of this collection left me pretty flat.
October 22, 2019
Amazingly thoughtful, complex intellectual biography of Arnold. Trilling went deep into his Victorian world and came out writing like it; his sentences are rich and twisted and full of niche period references. Arnold wrote poems, a few of them famous, and a lot of criticism, but if you had to distill him to one idea it would be this: in contrast to Mill's liberalism (more common today) which claims that it's better to have a free marketplace of ideas and tolerate the bad along with the good; we need a positive liberalism, a vision of excellence which unites and elevates the nation, something in place of religion which provides moral succour and artistic inspiration, rather than settling for the pablum of democratic popular culture and ideas. It is this that Arnold calls "culture" writ large. Trilling doesn't always agree with his ideas, and occasionally pushes back strongly (as in the case of race science - the book was published in 1939).
Matthew Arnold's father Thomas was famous as the schoolmaster at Rugby who transformed a failing institution. As a young man Arnold rebelled somewhat against his serious, pious milieu and lived as a dandy, growing his hair long and befriending Parisian actresses. But when it came, his poetry was surprisingly grave, dealing with ennui of modern times, disenchantment, longing for classical serenity; and with the injustice in the world, love, fear of death. The last part of the book deals with his desire to establish a watered-down basis for Christianity, something which one couldn't really believe while taking orders - for Arnold could say Christianity is all kinds of good, useful, desirable, everything except true - but one which could give solace to someone who'd already taken them, who could see a lot of the prayers non-literally, and work for justice. Which is the other theme: the increasing enfranchisement (and dissatisfaction) of the working class, and Arnold's desire to bring them under the wing of the national Church, while in return reforming some of its unchristian and reactionary embrace of the titled class.
Beginning with confusion and poetry, moving to social criticism, and ending in faith: Arnold's trajectory was not uncommon for his time - the 19th century saw a strong religious revival in parts of Europe - but it was on the way out. His attitudes seemed dated even to his contemporaries, and today he is less known for his ideals as for his superb, clear prose.
Matthew Arnold's father Thomas was famous as the schoolmaster at Rugby who transformed a failing institution. As a young man Arnold rebelled somewhat against his serious, pious milieu and lived as a dandy, growing his hair long and befriending Parisian actresses. But when it came, his poetry was surprisingly grave, dealing with ennui of modern times, disenchantment, longing for classical serenity; and with the injustice in the world, love, fear of death. The last part of the book deals with his desire to establish a watered-down basis for Christianity, something which one couldn't really believe while taking orders - for Arnold could say Christianity is all kinds of good, useful, desirable, everything except true - but one which could give solace to someone who'd already taken them, who could see a lot of the prayers non-literally, and work for justice. Which is the other theme: the increasing enfranchisement (and dissatisfaction) of the working class, and Arnold's desire to bring them under the wing of the national Church, while in return reforming some of its unchristian and reactionary embrace of the titled class.
Beginning with confusion and poetry, moving to social criticism, and ending in faith: Arnold's trajectory was not uncommon for his time - the 19th century saw a strong religious revival in parts of Europe - but it was on the way out. His attitudes seemed dated even to his contemporaries, and today he is less known for his ideals as for his superb, clear prose.
April 28, 2026
despite everything, I believe in the intellectual biography!
August 24, 2012
Trilling at his best.
June 4, 2023
Very interesting book.
Trilling's mind doesn't work like most people's: he seems to draw on a much wider body of learning than any other critic; he often cites/launches into other sources, tangents & riffs that send the reader down seeming byways. He's somewhat difficult to "get" in one reading, but what I glimpsed was very intriguing, provocative. I'll definitely reread this book someday.
178,000 words en toto, available here:
https://archive.org/details/matthewar...
This book is Trilling's dissertation, first published in 1939. This edition, published in 1979, includes his 10,000-word summary essay "Matthew Arnold, Poet", which was written for inclusion in Major British Writers, Volume II, Harcourt, Brace & World, 1954.
I can't remember anything from this book, but my notes are most animated from chapters 6, 8, 10 & 13 — so I'll say those are "the best" chapters. Chapter 6 (8,700 words) delves into the Iliad's pedagogical possibilities in public education, which got me fired up.
Here are the chapter titles:
1 “A” 15
2 His Father and His England 36
3 The Making of Myths 77
4 The Darkling Plain 110
5 The World Restored 142
6 The Grand Style 167
7 The Spirit of Criticism 190
8 The Failure of the Middle Class 222
9 Culture or Anarchy 252
10 Obermann Once More 292
11 Joy Whose Grounds Are True 317
12 Resolution 369
[13] Matthew Arnold, Poet 407
Trilling's mind doesn't work like most people's: he seems to draw on a much wider body of learning than any other critic; he often cites/launches into other sources, tangents & riffs that send the reader down seeming byways. He's somewhat difficult to "get" in one reading, but what I glimpsed was very intriguing, provocative. I'll definitely reread this book someday.
178,000 words en toto, available here:
https://archive.org/details/matthewar...
This book is Trilling's dissertation, first published in 1939. This edition, published in 1979, includes his 10,000-word summary essay "Matthew Arnold, Poet", which was written for inclusion in Major British Writers, Volume II, Harcourt, Brace & World, 1954.
I can't remember anything from this book, but my notes are most animated from chapters 6, 8, 10 & 13 — so I'll say those are "the best" chapters. Chapter 6 (8,700 words) delves into the Iliad's pedagogical possibilities in public education, which got me fired up.
Here are the chapter titles:
1 “A” 15
2 His Father and His England 36
3 The Making of Myths 77
4 The Darkling Plain 110
5 The World Restored 142
6 The Grand Style 167
7 The Spirit of Criticism 190
8 The Failure of the Middle Class 222
9 Culture or Anarchy 252
10 Obermann Once More 292
11 Joy Whose Grounds Are True 317
12 Resolution 369
[13] Matthew Arnold, Poet 407
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews