stormy night? What does Tristram's question (l. 7) reveal of his
condition physically and mentally? What is the office of the parts
of the poem coming between the intervals of conversation? How is the
wounded knight identified? How the lady? Follow the wanderings of the
sleeping Tristram's mind. Are the incidents he speaks of in the order
of their occurrence? Explain ll. 102-103; ll. 161-169. Tell the story
of Tristram and Iseult of the White Hands. What is shown by the fact
that Tristram's mind dwells on Iseult of Ireland even at the time of
battle? How account for his wanderings? For his morose frame of mind?
What change has come over nature when Tristram awakes? Why this
change? What is his mood now? Account for his addressing Iseult of
Brittany as he does. Why his order for her to retire? What is her
attitude toward him? Note the manner in which the children are
introduced into the story (ll. 324-325) PART II. Give the opening
situation. Discuss the meeting of Tristram and Iseult. What is
revealed by their conversation? What is the purpose in introducing the
Huntsman on the arras? PART III. What is the purpose of ll. 1-4? Give
the opening situation in Part III. How is Iseult trying to entertain
her children? What kind of a life does she lead? Discuss ll. 112-150
as to meaning and connection with the theme of the poem. Tell the
story of Merlin and Vivian. Why introduced? Compare Arnold's version
of the story of Tristram and Iseult with the version given in the
introductory note to the poem.
[176]
THE CHURCH OF BROU
I. THE CASTLE
The church of Brou is actually located in a treeless Burgundian plain,
and not in the mountains, as stated by the poet.
=1. Savoy=. A mountainous district in eastern France; formerly one of
the divisions of the Sardinian States.
=3. mountain-chalets=. Properly, herdsmen's huts in the mountains of
Switzerland.
=17. prickers=. Men sent into the thickets to start the game.
=35. dais=. Here, a canopy or covering.
=69. erst=. See note, l. 42, _The Scholar-Gipsy_. ( Formerly.
(Obsolete except in poetry.))
=71. chancel=. The part of a church in which the altar is placed.
=72. nave=. See note, ll. 70-76, _Epilogue to Lessing's Laocoön_.
=77. palmers=. Wandering religious votaries, especially those who bore
branches of palm as a token that they had visited the Holy Land and
its sacred places.
=109. fretwork=. Representing open woodwork.
II. THE CHURCH
=17. matin-chime=. Bells for morning worship.
=21. Chambery=. Capital of the department of Savoy Proper, on the
Leysse.
=22. Dight=. See l. 277, _Sohrab and Rustum_. (Adorned, dressed.)
=37. chisell'd broideries=. The carved draperies of the tombs.
III. THE TOMB
=6. transept=. The transversal part of a church edifice, which crosses
at right angles between the nave and the choir (the upper portion),
thus giving to the building the form of a cross.
=39. foliaged marble forest=. Note the epithet.
[177]
=45. leads=. That is, the leaden roof. See l. 1, Part II. (Upon the
glistening leaden roof).
REQUIESCAT
This poem, one of Arnold's best-known shorter lyrics, combines with
perfect taste, simplicity and elegance, with the truest pathos. It has
been said there is not a false note in it.
=13. cabin'd=. Used in the sense of being cramped for space.
=16. vasty=. Spacious, boundless.
What is the significance of strewing on the roses? Why "never a spray
of yew"? (See note, l.140, _The Scholar-Gipsy.)_ What seems to be the
author's attitude toward death? (Read his poem, _A Wish_.) Discuss the
poem as to its lyrical qualities.
CONSOLATION
=14. Holy Lassa= (that is, Land of the Divine Intelligence), the
capital city of Thibet and residence of the Dalai, or Grand Lama, the
pontifical sovereign of Thibet and East Asia. Here is located the
great temple of Buddha, a vast square edifice, surmounted by a gilded
dome, the temple, together with its precincts, covering an area of
many acres. Contiguous to it, on its four sides, are four celebrated
monasteries, occupied by four thousand recluses, and resorted to as
schools of the Buddhic religion and philosophy. There is, perhaps, no
other one place in the world where so much gold is accumulated for
superstitious purposes.
=17. Muses.= See note, l. 120, _The Strayed Reveller_.
=18. In their cool gallery=. That is, in the Vatican art gallery at
Rome.
=19. yellow Tiber.= So called by the ancients because of the
yellowish, muddy appearance of its waters.
[178]
=21. Strange unloved uproar.= At the time this poem was
written,--1849,--the French army was besieging Rome.
=23. Helicon.= High mountain in Boeotia, legendary home of the
Muses.
=32. Erst.= See note, l. 32, _The Scholar-Gipsy_.
=48. Destiny.= That is, Fate, the goddess of human destiny.
In what mood is the author at the opening of the poem? How does he
seek consolation? How does the calm of the Muses affect him? Can you
see how he might find help in dwelling on the pictures of the blind
beggar and happy lovers? What is the final thought of the poem? Can
you think of any other poem that has this as its central thought? What
do you think of the author's philosophy of life as set forth in this
poem? Discuss the verse form used.
LINES
WRITTEN IN KENSINGTON GARDENS
The Kensington Gardens form one of the many beautiful public parks of
London. They are located in the Kensington parish, a western suburb of
the city, lying north of the Thames and four miles west-southwest of
St. Paul's. In his poem Arnold contrasts the serenity of nature
with the restlessness of modern life. "Not Lucan, not Vergil,
only Wordsworth, has more beautifully expressed the spirit of
Pantheism."--HERBERT W. PAUL.
=4.= The pine trees here mentioned are since dead.
=14. What endless active life!= Compare with Arnold's sonnet of this
volume, entitled _Quiet Work_, ll. 4-7 and 11-12.
=21. the huge world.= London.
=24. Was breathed on by rural Pan.= Note Arnold's classic way of
accounting for his great love for nature, Pan being the nature god.
See note, l. 67, _The Strayed Reveller_.
[179]
=37-42.= Compare the thought here presented with the following lines
from Wordsworth:--
"These beauteous forms,
... have not been to me
As is a landscape to a blind man's eye.
But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din
Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,
... sensations sweet
Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
And passing even into my purer mind,
With tranquil restoration."
Read also Wordsworth's _Lines to the Daffodil_.
What is the dominant mood of the poem? What evidently brought it to
the author's mind? How does he show his interest in nature? In human
beings? What inspiration does the author seek from nature, ll. 37-42?
Explain the meaning of the last two lines.
THE STRAYED REVELLER
"I have such a love for these forms and this old Greek world, that
perhaps I infuse a little soul into my dealings with them, which saves
me from being entirely _ennuyx_, professorial and pedantic." (Matthew
Arnold, in a letter to his sister, dated February, 1858.)
Circe, according to Greek mythology, was an enchantress, who dwelt in
the island of Ææa, and who possessed the power to transform men
into beasts. (See any mythological text on Ulysses' wanderings.) In
Arnold's fantastic, visionary poem, the magic potion, by which this
transformation is accomplished, affects not the body, but the mind of
the youth.
=12. ivy-cinctured.= That is, girdled with ivy, symbolic of Bacchus,
the god of wine and revelry, whose forehead was crowned with ivy. See
also l. 33. [180]
=36. rout.= Consult dictionary.
=38. Iacchus.= In the Eleusinian mysteries, Bacchus bore the name of
Iacchus. =fane.= A temple. From the Latin _fanum_, a place of worship
dedicated to any deity.
=48. The lions sleeping.= As Ulysses' companions approached Circe's
palace, following their landing on her island, they found themselves
"surrounded by lions, tigers, and wolves, not fierce but tamed by
Circe's art, for she was a powerful magician."
=67. Pan's flute music!= Pan, the god of pastures and woodlands,
was the inventor of the syrinx, or shepherd's flute, with which he
accompanied himself and his followers in the dance.
=71. Ulysses.= The celebrated hero of the Trojan war; also famous for
his wanderings. One of his chief adventures, on his return voyage from
Troy, was with the enchantress Circe, with whom he tarried a year,
forgetful of his faithful wife, Penelope, at home.
=72. Art.= That is, are you. (Now used only in solemn or poetic
style.)
=73. range.= Wander aimlessly about.
=74. See what the day brings.= That is, the youth. See ll. 24-52
=81. Nymphs.= Goddesses of the mountains, forests, meadows, or waters,
belonging to the lower rank of deities.
=102-107.= Compare in thought with Tennyson's poem, _Ulysses_.
=110. The favour'd guest of Circe.= Ulysses. See note, l. 71.
=120. Muses.= Daughters of Jupiter and Minemosyne, nine in number.
According to the earliest writers the Muses were only the inspiring
goddesses of song; but later they were looked to as the divinities
presiding over the different kinds of poetry, and over the arts and
sciences.
[181]
=130-135.= Note the poet's device for presenting a series of mental
pictures. Compare with Tennyson's plan in his _Palace of Art_. Does
Arnold's plan seem more or less mechanical than Tennyson's?
=135-142. Tiresias.= The blind prophet of =Thebes= (l. 142), the chief
city in Boeotia, near the river =Asopus= (l. 138). In his youth,
Tiresias unwittingly came upon Athene while she was bathing, and was
punished by the loss of sight. As a recompense for this misfortune,
the goddess afterward gave him knowledge of future events. The
inhabitants of Thebes looked to Tiresias for direction in times of
war.
=143. Centaurs.= Monsters, half man, half horse.
=145. Pelion.= A mountain in eastern Thessaly, famous in Greek
mythology. In the war between the giants and the gods, the former, in
their efforts to scale the heavens, piled Ossa upon Olympus and Pelion
upon Ossa.
=151-161.= What in these lines enables you to determine the people and
country alluded to?
=162-167. Scythian ... embers.= The ancient Greek term for the nomadic
tribes inhabiting the whole north and northeast Europe and Asia. As
a distinct people they built no cities, and formed no general
government, but wandered from place to place by tribes, in their rude,
covered carts (see l. 164), living upon the coarsest kind of food (ll.
166-167).
=177-180. Clusters of lonely mounds, etc.= That is, ruins of ancient
cities.
=183. Chorasmian stream.= See note, l. 878, _Sohrab and Rustum_.
=197. milk-barr'd onyx-stones.= A reference to the white streaks, or
bars, common to the onyx.
=206. Happy Islands.= Mythical islands lying far to the west, the
abode of the heroes after death.
=220. Hera's anger.= Hera (or Juno), wife to Jupiter, was noted for
her violent temper and jealousy. She is here represented as visiting
punishment upon the bard, perhaps out of jealousy of the gods who had
endowed him with poetic power, and his life, thus afflicted, seems
lengthened to seven ages. [182]
=228-229. Lapithæ.= In Greek legends, a fierce Thessalian race,
governed by Pirothous, a half-brother to the Centaurs. =Theseus.= The
chief hero of Attica, who, according to tradition, united the several
tribes of Attica into one state, with Athens as the capital. His life
was filled with adventure. The reference here is to the time of the
marriage of Pirothous and Hippodamia, on which occasion the Centaurs,
who were among the guests, became intoxicated, and offered indignities
to the bride. In the fight that followed, Theseus joined with the
Lapithæ, and many of the Centaurs were slain.
=231. Alcmena's dreadful son.= Hercules. On his expedition to capture
the Arcadian boar, his third labor, Hercules became involved in a
broil with the Centaurs, and in self-defence slew several of them with
his arrows.
=245. Oxus stream.= See note, l. 2, _Sohrab and Rustum_.
=254. Heroes.= The demigods of mythology.
=257. Troy.= The capital of Troas, Asia Minor; the seat of the Trojan war.
=254-260.= Shortly after the close of the Trojan war, a party of
heroes from all parts of Greece, many of whom had participated in the
expeditions against Thebes and Troy, set out under the leadership of
Jason to capture the Golden Fleece. Leaving the shores of Thessaly,
the adventurers sailed eastward and finally came to the entrance of
the =Euxine Sea= (the =unknown sea=, l. 260), which was guarded by
the Clashing Islands. Following the instructions of the sage Phineus,
Jason let fly a dove between the islands, and at the moment of
rebound the expedition passed safely through. The ship in which the
adventurers sailed was called the Argo, after its builder, Argus;
hence our term Argonauts.
[183]
=261. Silenus.= A divinity of Asiatic origin; foster-father to Bacchus
and leader of the =Fauns= (l. 265), satyr-like divinities, half man,
half goat, sometimes represented in art as hearing torches (l. 274).
=275. Mænad.= A bacchante,--a priestess or votary of Bacchus.
=276. Faun with torches.= See note, l. 261.
What is the situation at the beginning of the poem? What effect does
the "liquor" have upon the youth? Why is the presence of Ulysses so
much in harmony with the situation? How does he greet Circe; how the
youth? What does his presence suggest to the latter? Why? Note the
vividness of the pictures he describes; also the swiftness with which
he changes from one to another. What power is ascribed to the poet?
Why his "pain"? What effect is gained by closing the poem with the
same words with which it is opened? Why the irregular verse used?
DOVER BEACH
In this poem is expressed the peculiar turn of Arnold's mind, at once
religious and sceptical, philosophical and emotional. It is one of his
most passionate interpretations of life.
=15. Sophocles= (495-406 B.C.). One of the three great tragic poets of
Greece. His rivals were Æschylus (526-456 B.C.) and Euripides (486-406
B.C.).
=16. Ægean Sea.= See note, l. 236, _The Scholar-Gipsy_.
* * * * *
Image the scene in the opening stanzas. What is the author's mood?
Why does he call some one to look on the scene with him? What is the
"eternal note of sadness"? Why connect it in thought with the sea? Why
does this thought suggest Sophocles? What thought next presents itself
to the author's mind? From what source must one's help and comfort
then be drawn? Why so? Why the irregular versification? State the
theme of the poem. [184]
PHILOMELA
"Philomela unites the sensibilities and intellectual experience of
modern Englishmen with the luminousness and simplicity of Greek
poetry."--SAINTSBURY.
The myth of the nightingale has long been a favorite with the poets,
who have variously interpreted the bird's song. See Coleridge's,
Keats's, and Wordsworth's poems on the subject. The most common
version of the myth, the one followed by Arnold, is as follows:--
"Pandion (son of Erichthonius, special ward to Minerva) had two
daughters, Procne and Philomela, of whom he gave the former in
marriage to Tereus, king of Thrace (or of Daulis in Phocis). This
ruler, after his wife had borne him a son, Itys (or Itylus), wearied
of her, plucked out her tongue by the roots to insure her silence,
and, pretending that she was dead, took in marriage the other sister,
Philomela. Procne, by means of a web, into which she wove her story,
informed Philomela of the horrible truth. In revenge upon Tereus, the
sisters killed Itylus, and served up the child as food to the father;
but the gods, in indignation, transformed Procne into a swallow,
Philomela into a nightingale, forever bemoaning the murdered Itylus,
and Tereus into a hawk, forever pursuing the sisters."--GAYLEY'S
_Classic Myths_.
=4.= Use the subjoined questions in studying the poem.
=5. O wanderer from a Grecian shore.= See note, l. 27.
=8.= Note the aptness and beauty of the adjectives in this line, not
one of which could be omitted without irreparable loss.
=18. Thracian wild.= Thrace was the name used by the early Greeks for
the entire region north of Greece.
[185]
=21. The too clear web=, etc. See introductory note to poem for
explanation of this and the following lines.
=27. Daulis.= A city of Phocis, Greece, twelve miles northeast of
Delphi; the scene of the myth of Philomela. =Cephessian vale.= The
valley of the Cephissus, a small stream running through Doris, Phocis,
and Boeotia, into the Euboean Gulf.
=29. How thick the bursts=, etc. Compare with the following lines from
Coleridge:--
"'Tis the merry nightingale
That crowds and hurries and precipitates
With fast, thick warble his delicious notes,
As he were fearful that an April night
Would be too short for him to utter forth
His love-chant, and disburthen his full soul
Of all its music!"
--_The Nightingale_.
Also
"O Nightingale! thou surely art
A creature of a 'fiery heart':--
These notes of thine--they pierce and pierce;
Tumultuous harmony and fierce!
Thou sing'st as if the god of wine
Had helped thee to a Valentine."
--WORDSWORTH.
=31-32. Eternal passion!
Eternal pain!= Compare:--
"Thou warblest sad thy pity-pleading strains."
--COLERIDGE, _To a Nightingale_.
and
"Sweet bird ...
Most musical, most melancholy!"
--MILTON, _Il Penseroso_.
Image the scene in the poem. How does the author secure the proper
atmosphere for the theme of the poem? Account for the note of triumph
in the nightingale's song; note of pain. What is shown by the poet's
question, ll. 10-15? What new qualities are added to the nightingale's
song, l. 25? Account for them. Why _eternal_ passion, _eternal_ pain?
Do you feel the form of verse used (Pindaric blank) to be adapted to
the theme? [186]
HUMAN LIFE
=4. kept uninfringed my nature's law.= That is, have lived a perfect
life.
=5. inly-written chart.= The conscience.
=8. incognisable.= Not to be comprehended by finite mind.
=23. prore.= Poetical word for _prow_, the fore part of a ship.
=27. stem.= Consult dictionary.
What important incident in the destiny of the soul is alluded to in
stanza 1? Interpret ll. 13-14, and apply to your own experience. Why
cannot we live "chance's fool"? Is there any hint of fatalism in the
poem, or are we held accountable for our own destiny?
ISOLATION
TO MARGUERITE, ON RETURNING A VOLUME OF THE LETTERS OF ORTIS
This poem, the fifth in a loosely connected group of lyrics, under the
general name _Switzerland_, is a continuation of the preceding
poem, _Isolation--to Marguerite_, and is properly entitled, _To
Marguerite--Continued_. When printed separately, the above title is
used.
Jacopo Ortis was a pseudonym of the Italian poet, Ugo Foscolo. His
_Ultime Lettere di Ortis_ was translated into the English in 1818.
[187]
=1. Yes!= Used in answer to the closing thought of the preceding poem.
=7. moon.= Note the frequency with which reference to the moon, with
its light effects, appears in Arnold's lines. Can you give any reason
for this?
=24.= Mr. Herbert W. Paul, commenting on this line, says: "_Isolation_
winds up with one of the great poetic phrases of the century--one of
the 'jewels five (literally five) words long' of English verse--a
phrase complete and final, with epithets in unerring cumulation."
Give the poem's theme. To what is each individual likened? Discuss l.2
as to meaning. In what sense do we live "alone," l.4? Why "endless
bounds," l.6? How account for the feeling of despair, l.13? Answer the
questions asked in the last stanza. In what frame of mind does the
poem leave you?
KAISER DEAD
APRIL 6, 1887
Arnold's love for animals, especially his household pets, was most
sincere. Despite the playful irony of his poem, there is in the minor
key an undertone of genuine sorrow. "We have just lost our dear, dear
mongrel, Kaiser," he wrote in a letter dated from his home in Cobham,
Kent, April 7, 1887, "and we are very sad." The poem was written the
following July, and was published in the _Fortnightly Review_ for that
month.
=2. Cobham.= See note above.
=3. Farringford,= in the Isle of Wight, was the home of Lord Tennyson.
=5. Pen-bryn's bold bard.= Sir Lewis Morris, author of the _Epic of
Hades_, lived at Pen-bryn, in Caermarthanshire.
[188]
=11-12.= In Burns's poem, _Poor Mailie's Elegy_, occur the following
lines:--
"Come, join the melancholious croon
O' Robin's reed."
=20. Potsdam.= The capital of the government district of Potsdam, in
the province of Brandenburg, Prussia; hence the dog's name, _Kaiser_.
=41. the Grand Old Man.= Gladstone.
=50. agog.= In a state of eager excitement.
=65. Geist.= Also remembered in a poem entitled _Geist's Grave_,
included in this volume.
=76. chiel.= A Scotch word meaning lad, fellow.
"Buirdly _chiels_ an clever hizzies."
--BURNS, _The Twa Dogs_.
=Skye.= The largest of the Inner Hebrides. See note, l. 7, _Saint
Brandan_.
THE LAST WORD
In this poem Arnold describes the plight of one engaged in a hopeless
struggle against an uncompromising, Philistine world too strong for
him.
State the central thought in the poem. To whom is it addressed? What
is the _narrow bed_, l. 1? Why give up the struggle? With whom has it
been waged? Explain fully l. 4. What is implied in l. 6? What is meant
by _ringing shot_, l. 11? Who are the victors, l. 14? What would they
probably say on finding the body near the wall? Can you think of any
historical characters of whom the poem might aptly have been written?
[189]
PALLADIUM
At the time of the Trojan war there was in the citadel of Troy a
celebrated statue of Pallas Athene, called the Palladium. It was
reputed to have fallen from heaven as the gift of Zeus, and the belief
was that the city could not be taken so long as this statue remained
within it. Ulysses and Diomedes, two of the Greek champions, succeeded
in entering the city in disguise, stole the Palladium and carried it
off to the besiegers' camp at Argos. It was some time, however, before
the city fell.
=1. Simois.= A small river of the Troad which takes its rise in the
rocky, wooded eminence which, according to Greek tradition, formed
the acropolis of Troy. The Palladium was set up on its banks near its
source, in a temple especially erected for it (l. 6), and from this
lofty position was supposed to watch over the safety of the city and
her defenders on the plains below.
=3. Hector.= Hector, son of Priam, king of Troy (Ilium), and his
wife, Hecuba, was the leader and champion of the Trojan armies. He
distinguished himself in numerous single combats with the ablest of
the Greek heroes; and to him was principally due the stubborn defence
of the Trojan capital. He was finally slain by Achilles, aided by
Athene, and his body dragged thrice around the walls of Troy behind
the chariot of his conqueror.
=14. Xanthus.= The Scamander, the largest and most celebrated river of
the Troad, near which Troy was situated, was presided over by a deity
known to the gods as Xanthus. His contest with Achilles, whom he so
nearly overwhelmed, forms a notable incident of the _Iliad_.
=15. Ajax, or Aiax.= One of the leading Greek heroes in the siege of
Troy, famous for his size, physical strength, and beauty. In bravery
and feats of valor he was second only to Achilles. Not being awarded
the armor of Achilles after that hero's death, he slew himself.
[190]
=16.= Helen, the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, was celebrated for
her beauty, by reason of which frequent references are made to her by
both classic and modern writers. Goethe introduces her in the second
part of _Faust_, and Faustus, in Marlowe's play of that name,
addresses her thus:--
"Oh! thou art fairer than the evening air
Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars."
Her abduction by Paris, son of Priam (see note, l. 3), was the cause
of the Trojan war, the most notable incident of Greek mythology, which
forms the theme of Homer's greatest poem, the _Iliad_.
What is the central thought of the poem? Of what is the Palladium
typical? Explain the thought in stanza 3. What is the force of the
references of stanza 4? Discuss the use of the words "rust" and
"shine," l. 17. Just what is meant by "soul" as the word is used in
the poem?
SELF-DEPENDENCE
_Self-Dependence_ is a poem in every respect characteristic of its
author. In it Arnold exhorts mankind to seek refuge from human
troubles in the example of nature.
Picture the situation in the poem. What is the poet's mood as shown
in the opening stanzas? From what source does he seek aid? Why? What
answer does he receive? What is the source of nature's repose? Where
and how must the human soul find its contentment?
[191]
GEIST'S GRAVE
This poem appeared in the January number of the _Fortnightly Review_
for 1881.
=12. homily.= Sermon.
=15. the Virgilian cry.= _Sunt lacrimæ rerum!_ These words are
interpreted in the following line.
=42. On lips that rarely form them now.= Arnold wrote but little
poetry after 1867.
=55-56. thine absent master.= Richard Penrose Arnold, the poet's only
surviving son.
EPILOGUE TO LESSING'S LAOCOÖN
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) was a celebrated German dramatist
and critic. For a time he studied theology at Leipsic, then turned his
attention to the stage, and later to criticism. His greatest critical
work (1766) is a treatise on Art, the famous Greek statuary group,
the Laocoön, which gives the work its name, forming the basis for a
comparative discussion of Sculpture, Poetry, Painting, and Music.
=1. Hyde Park.= The largest park in London, and the principal
recreation ground of that city.
=15. Phoebus-guarded ground.= Greece. Phoebus, a name often given
Apollo, the sun god.
=16. Pausanias.= A noted Greek geographer and writer on art who lived
in the second century. "His work, _The Gazetteer of Hellas_, is our
best repertory of information for the topography, local history,
religious observances, architecture, and sculpture of the different
states of Greece."--K.O. MÜLLER, _History of the Literature of Ancient
Greece_.
[192]
=21-22. Dante= (1265-1321), =Petrarch= (1304-1374), =Tasso= (1544-;
1595), =Ariosto= (1475-1533). Celebrated Italian poets.
=25. Raphael= (1483-1520). The famous Italian painter.
=29. Goethe= (1749-1832). The greatest name in German literature.
His works include poetry, dramas, and criticisms. =Wordsworth=
(1770-1850). See the poem, _Memorial Verses_, of this volume.
=35. Mozart= (1766-1791), =Beethoven= (1770-1827), =Mendelssohn=
(1809-1847). Noted musicians and composers.
=42. south.= Warm.
=43-48.= Cyclops Polyphemus, famous in the story of Ulysses, was
a persistent and jealous suitor of Galatea, the fairest of sea
divinities. So ardent was he in his wooings, that he would leave his
flocks to wander at will, while he sang his uncouth lays from the
hilltops to Galatea in the bay below. Her only answers were words of
scorn and mockery. See Andrew Lang's translation of Theocritus, Idyl
VI, for further account.
=70-76. Abbey towers.= That is, Westminster Abbey, a mile's distance
to the south and east of Hyde Park. The abbey is built in the form of
a cross, the body or lower part of which is termed the nave (l. 73).
The upper portion is occupied by the choir, the anthems of which, with
their organ accompaniments, are alluded to in ll. 74-77.
=89-106. Miserere Domine!= _Lord, have mercy!_ These words are from
the service of the Church of England. The meaning in these lines is
that Beethoven, in his masterpieces, has transferred the thoughts and
feelings, above inadequately expressed in words, into another and more
emotional tongue; that is, music.
=107. Ride.= A famous driveway in Hyde Park, commonly called Rotten
Row.
=119. vacant.= Thoughtless; not occupied with study or reflection.
"For oft, when on my couch I lie
In _vacant_ or in pensive mood."
--WORDSWORTH'S _Lines to the Daffodils_, ll. 19-20.
=124. hies.= Hastens (poetical).
[193]
=130. painter and musician too!= Arnold held poetry to be equal to
painting and music combined.
=140. movement.= Activities. Explained in the following lines.
=163-210.= Note carefully the argument used to prove that poetry
interprets life more accurately and effectively than any of the other
arts. =Homer=, the most renowned of all Greek poets. The time in which
he lived is not definitely known. =Shakespeare= (1504-1616).
Give the setting of the story. What was the topic of conversation?
What stand did the poet's friend take regarding poetry? Why turn to
Greece in considering the arts? What limitations of the painter's art
are pointed out by the poet? What is his attitude toward music?
What finally is "the poet's sphere," l. 127? Wherein then is poetry
superior to the other arts? Does the author prove his point by his
poem? Discuss the poem as to movement, diction, etc.
QUIET WORK
No poet, not even Wordsworth, was more passionately fond of nature
than Arnold. Note his attitude in the poem.
=1. One lesson.= What lesson?
=4.= Discuss the use of the adjective "loud"; also "noisier," l. 7.
Note the essential elements of sonnet structure in metre, rhyme
formula, and number of lines. See the introduction to Sharp's _Sonnets
of this Century_.
SHAKESPEARE
Despite this tribute, Arnold considered Homer Shakespeare's equal, if
not his superior. What do Shakespeare's smile and silence imply on
his part? Explain in full the figure used. Do you consider it apt? Why
"Better so," l. 10? What is there in the poem that helps you to see
wherein lay Shakespeare's power to interpret life? Select the lines
which most impress you, and tell why. [194]
YOUTH'S AGITATIONS
This sonnet was written in 1852, when the poet was in his thirtieth
year.
=5. joy.= Be glad. =heats.= Passions.
=6. even clime.= That is, in the less emotional years of maturity.
=12. hurrying fever.= See note, l. 6.
AUSTERITY OF POETRY
=1. That son of Italy.= Giacopone di Todi.
=2. Dante= (1265-1321). Best known as the author of _The Divine
Comedy_.
=3. In his light youth.= Explain.
=11. sackcloth.= Symbolic of mourning or mortification of the flesh.
Tell the story of the poem and make the application. Explain Arnold's
idea of poetry as set forth in ll. 12-14.
WORLDLY PLACE
=3. Marcus Aurelius= (121-180 A.D.), commonly called "the philosopher."
A celebrated Roman emperor, prominent among the ethical teachers
of his time. Arnold himself has been aptly styled by Sharp an
"impassioned Marcus Aurelius, wrought by poetic vision and emotion to
poetic music." [195]
=6. foolish.= In the sense of unreasonable. =ken.= The Scotch word
meaning sight.
=7. rates.= Berates, reproves.
Give the poem's theme. What is implied by the word "even," l. 1? Does
the author agree with the implication? Why so? Discuss l. 5 as to its
meaning. Interpret the expressions "ill-school'd spirit," l. 11, and
"Some nobler, ampler stage of life," l. 12. Where finally are the aids
to a nobler life to be found? Do you agree with this philosophy of
life?
EAST LONDON
=2. Bethnal Green.= An eastern suburb of London.
=4. Spitalfields.= A part of northeast London, comprising the parishes
of Bethnal Green and Christchurch.
Image the scene. What is the purpose of the first four lines? Discuss
l. 6. What is the import of the preacher's response? What are the
poet's conclusions drawn in ll. 9-14?
WEST LONDON
=1. Belgrave Square.= An important square in the western part of
London.
Tell the situation and the story of the poem. Why did the woman
solicit aid from the laboring men? Why not from the wealthy? Explain
ll. 9-11. What is the poet's final conclusion?
[196]
MEMORIAL VERSES
APRIL, 1850
Wordsworth died at Rydal Mount, in the Lake, District, April 23, 1850.
These verses, dedicated to his memory, are among Arnold's best-known
lines. For adequacy of meaning and charm of expression, they are
almost unsurpassed; they also contain some of the poet's soundest
poetical criticism. The poem was first published in _Fraser's
Magazine_ for June, 1850, and bore the date of April 27.
=1. Goethe in Weimar sleeps.= The tomb of Goethe, the celebrated
German author (see note, l. 29, _Epilogue to Lessing's Laocoön_), is
in Weimar, the capital of the Grand-duchy of Saxe-Weimar. Weimar is
noted as the literary centre of Germany, and for this reason is styled
the German Athens.
=2. Byron.= George Gordon Byron (1788-1824), a celebrated English poet
of the French Revolutionary period, died at Missolonghi, Greece, where
he had gone to help the Greeks in their struggle to throw off the
Turkish yoke. He was preëminently a poet of passion, and, as such,
exerted a marked influence on the literature of his day. His petulant,
bitter rebellion against all law has become proverbial; hence the
term "Byronic." The =Titans= (l. 14) were a race of giants who warred
against the gods. The aptness of the comparison made here is at once
evident. In Arnold's sonnet, _A Picture at Newstead_, also occur these
lines:--
"'Twas not the thought of Byron, of his cry
Stormily sweet, his Titan-agony."
=17. iron age.= In classic mythology, "The last of the four great ages
of the world described by Hesiod. Ovid, etc. It was supposed to
be characterized by abounding oppression, vice, and misery."--
_International Dictionary_. The preceding ages, in order, were the
age of gold, the age of silver, and the age of brass. [197]
=34-39=. Eurydice, wife of Orpheus, was stung to death by a serpent,
and passed to the realm of the dead--Hades. Thither Orpheus descended,
and, by the charm of his lyre and song, persuaded Pluto to restore her
to life. This he consented to do on condition that she walk behind
her husband, who was not to look at her until they had arrived in
the upper world. Orpheus, however, looked back, thus violating the
conditions, and Eurydice was caught back into the infernal regions.
"The ferry guard
Now would not row him o'er the lake again."
--LANDOR.
=72. Rotha=. A small stream of the English Lake Region, on which Rydal
Mount, Wordsworth's burial-place, is situated.
THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY
"There was very lately a lad in the University of Oxford who was by
his poverty forced to leave his studies there and at last to join
himself to a company of vagabond gipsies. Among these extravagant
people, by the insinuating subtilty of his carriage, he quickly got
so much of their love and esteem that they discovered to him their
mystery. After he had been a pretty while exercised in the trade,
there chanced to ride by a couple of scholars who had formerly been of
his acquaintance. They quickly spied out their old friend among the
gipsies, and he gave them an account of the necessity which drove him
to that kind of life, and told them that the people he went with
were not such impostors as they were taken for, but that they had a
traditional kind of learning among them, and could do wonders by the
power of imagination, their fancy binding that of others; that himself
had learned much of their art, and when he had compassed the whole
secret, he intended, he said, to leave their company, and give the
world an account of what he had learned."--GLANVIL'S _Vanity of
Dogmatizing_, 1661. [198]
=2. wattled cotes=. Sheepfolds. Probably suggested by Milton's
_Comus_, l. 344:--
"The folded flocks, penned in their _wattled cotes_."
=9. Cross and recross=. Infinitives depending upon seen, l. 8.
=13. cruse=. Commonly associated in thought with the story of Elijah
and the widow of Zarephath, 1 _Kings_, xvii: 8-16.
=19. corn=. See note, l. 156, _Sohrab and Rustum_.
=30. Oxford towers=. "Oxford, the county town of Oxfordshire and the
seat of one of the most ancient and celebrated universities in Europe,
is situated amid picturesque environs at the confluence of the
Cherwell and the Thames (often called in its upper course the Isis).
It is surrounded by an amphitheatre of gentle hills, the tops of
which command a fine view of the city with its domes and
towers."--BAEDEKER'S _Great Britain_, in his _Handbooks for
Travellers_. In writing of Oxford, Hawthorne says: "The world, surely,
has not another place like Oxford; it is a despair to see such a place
and ever to leave it, for it would take a lifetime, and more than one,
to comprehend and enjoy it satisfactorily." See also note, l. 19,
_Thyrsis_.
=31. Glanvil's book=. See introductory note to poem.
=42. erst=. Formerly. (Obsolete except in poetry.)
=44-50=. See introductory note to poem.
=57. Hurst=. Cumner (or Cumnor) Hurst, one of the Cumnor range of
hills, some two or three miles south and west of Oxford, is crowned
with a clump of cedars; hence the name "Hurst."
=58. Berkshire moors=. Berkshire is the county, or shire, on the south
of Oxford County.
=69. green-muffled=. Explain the epithet.
[199]
=74. Bablockhithe=. A small town some four miles west and a little
south of Oxford, on the Thames, which at that point is a mere stream
crossed by a ferry. This and numerous other points of interest in the
vicinity of Oxford are frequented by Oxford students; hence Arnold's
familiarity with them and his reference to them in this poem and
_Thyrsis_. See any atlas.
=79. Wychwood bowers=. That is, Wychwood Forest, ten or twelve miles
north and west of Oxford. See note, l. 74.
=83. To dance around the Fyfield elm in May=. Fyfield, a parish in
Berkshire, about six miles southwest of Oxford. The reference here is
to the "May-day" celebrations formerly widely observed in Europe, but
now nearly disappeared. The chief features of the celebration in Great
Britain are the gathering of hawthorn blossoms and other flowers, the
crowning of the May-queen and dancing around the May-pole--here the
Fyfield elm. See note, l. 74. Read Tennyson's poem, _The Queen o' the
May_.
=91. Godstow Bridge=. Some two miles up the Thames from Oxford.
=95. lasher pass=. An English term corresponding to our _mill race_.
The _lasher_ is the dam, or weir.
=98. outlandish=. Analyze the word and determine meaning.
=111. Bagley Wood=. South and west of Oxford, beyond South Hinksey.
See note, l. 125; also note, l. 74.
=114. tagg'd=. That is, marked; the leaves being colored by frost.
=115. Thessaly=. The northeastern district of ancient Greece,
celebrated in mythology. Here a forest ground near Bagley Wood. See
note, l. 111; also note, l. 74.
=125. Hinksey=. North and South Hinksey are unimportant villages a
short distance out from Oxford in the Cumnor Hills. See note, l. 74.
[200]
=129. Christ Church hall=. The largest and most fashionable college
in Oxford; founded by Cardinal Wolsey in 1525. The chapel of Christ
Church is also the cathedral of the diocese of Oxford.
=130. grange=. Consult dictionary.
=133. Glanvil=. Joseph Glanvil, 1636-1680. A noted English divine and
philosopher; author of a defence of belief in witchcraft.
=140. red-fruited yew tree=. The yew tree is very common in English
burial-grounds. It grows slowly, lives long, has a dark, thick
foliage, and yields a red berry. See Wordsworth's celebrated poem,
_The Yew-Tree_.
=141-170=. "This note of lassitude is struck often--perhaps too
often--in Arnold's poems."--DU PONT SYLE. See also _The Stanzas in
Memory of the Author of Obermann_. For the author's less despondent
mood, see his _Rugby Chapel_, included in this volume.
=147. teen=. Grief, sorrow; from the old English _teona_, meaning
injury.
=149. the just-pausing Genius=. Does the author here allude to death?
=151. Thou hast not lived= (so). That is, as described in preceding
stanza.
=152. Thou hadst one aim=, etc. What was the Scholar-Gipsy's _one_
motive in life?
=157-160. But thou possessest an immortal lot=, etc. Explain.
=165. Which much to have tried=, etc. Which many attempts and many
failures bring.
=180. do not we ... await it too=? That is, the spark from heaven. See
l. 171.
=182-190=. Possibly Carlyle, although the author may have had in mind
a type rather than an individual.
=208-209. Averse, as Dido did=, etc. Dido, the mythical queen of
Carthage, being deserted by her lover Æneas, slew herself. She
afterward met him on his journey through Hades, but turned from him in
scorn.
[201]
"In vain he thus attempts her mind to move
With tears and prayers and late repenting love;
Disdainfully she looked, then turning round
But fixed her eyes unmoved upon the ground,
And what he says and swears regards no more
Than the deaf rocks when the loud billows roar."
--DRYDEN'S _Translation_.
For entire episode, see _Æneid_, vi, 450-476.
=212. inviolable shade=. Holy, sacred, not susceptible to corruption.
Perhaps no other of Arnold's lines is so much quoted as this and the
preceding line.
=214=. Why "silver'd" branches?
=220=. dingles. Wooded dells.
=231-250=. Note the force of this elaborate and exquisitely sustained
image; how the mind is carried back from these turbid days of sick
unrest to the clear dawn of a fresh and healthy civilization. In the
course of an essay on Arnold, the late Mr. Richard Holt Hutton says of
this poem and this closing picture: "That most beautiful and graceful
poem on the _Scholar-Gipsy_ (the Oxford student who is said to have
forsaken academic study in order to learn, if it might be, those
potent secrets of nature, the traditions of which the gypsies are
supposed sedulously to guard) ends in a digression of the most vivid
beauty.... Nothing could illustrate better than this [closing] passage
Arnold's genius and his art.... His whole drift having been that
care and effort and gain and pressure of the world are sapping human
strength, he ends with a picture of the old-world pride and daring,
which exhibits human strength in its freshness and vigor.... I could
quote poem after poem which Arnold closes by some such buoyant
digression: a buoyant digression intended to shake off the tone of
melancholy, and to remind us that the world of imaginative life is
still wide open to us.... This problem is insoluble, he seems to say,
but insoluble or not, let us recall the pristine force of the human
spirit, and not forget that we have access to great resources
still.... Arnold, exquisite as his poetry is, teaches us first to
feel, and then to put by, the cloud of mortal destiny. But he does not
teach us, as Wordsworth does, to bear it." [202]
=232. As some grave Tyrian trader, etc=. Tyre, the second oldest and
most important city of Phoenicia, was, in ancient times, a strong
competitor for the commercial supremacy of the Mediterranean.
=236. Ægean Isles=. The Ægean Sea, that part of the Mediterranean
lying between Greece on the west, European Turkey on the north, and
Asia Minor on the east, is dotted with numerous small islands, many of
which are famous in Greek mythology.
=238. Chian wine=. Chios, or Scio, an island in the Ægean Sea (see
note above), was formerly celebrated for its wine and figs.
=239. tunnies=. A fish belonging to the mackerel family; found in the
Mediterranean Sea.
=244. Midland waters=. The Mediterranean Sea.
=245. Syrtes=. The ancient name of Gulf of Sidra, off North Africa,
the chief arm of the Mediterranean on the south, =soft Sicily=. Sicily
is noted for its delightful climate; hence the term, "soft Sicily."
=247. western straits=. Strait of Gibraltar.
=250. Iberians=. Inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula, formed by
Portugal and Spain.
What atmosphere is given the poem by the first stanza? What quest is
to be begun, l. 10? What caused the "Scholar" to join himself to the
gipsies? What were his original intentions? Why, then, did he continue
with them till his death? Why would he avoid others than members of
the gipsy crew? Why his pensive air? To what truth does the author
suddenly awake? How does the Scholar-Gipsy yet live to him? Explain
fully lines 180-200. Note carefully the author's contrast between the
life led by the Scholar-Gipsy and our modern life. Which is better?
Why? Make an application of the figure of the Tyrian trader. Is it
apt? Why used by the poet? Discuss the verse form used. Is it adapted
to the theme of the poem? [203]
THYRSIS
A monody to commemorate the author's friend, Arthur Hugh Clough, who
died at Florence, 1861.
Throughout this poem there is reference to the preceding selection,
_The Scholar-Gipsy_, of which it is the companion piece, and, in a
sense, the sequel. It is one of the four great elegies in the English
language.
Thyrsis is a name common to both ancient and modern literature. In
the Idyls of Theocritus it is used as the name of a herdsman; in the
Eclogues of Vergil, of a shepherd; while in later writings it has come
to mean any rustic.
Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861), whose poetry is closely akin in spirit
to Arnold's, was a young man of genius and promise. He studied at both
Rugby and Oxford, where he and Arnold were intimately associated and
became fast friends. In 1869 his health began to fail, and two years
later he died in Florence, Italy, where he had gone in the hope of
being benefited by the climate.
Arnold, in a letter to his mother dated April, 1866, says of his poem:
"Tell dear old Edward [Arnold] that the diction of the Thyrsis was
modelled on that of Theocritus, whom I have been much reading during
the two years this poem has been forming itself, and that I meant the
diction to be so artless as to be almost heedless. However, there is
a mean which must not be passed, and before I reprint this I will
consider well all objections. The images are all from actual
observation.... The cuckoo in the wet June morning, I heard in the
garden at Woodford, and all those three stanzas, which you like, are
reminiscences of Woodford. Edward has, I think, fixed on the two
stanzas I myself like best: 'O easy access,' and 'And long the way
appears.' I also like 'Where is the girl,' and the stanza before it;
but that is because they bring certain places and moments before
me.... It is probably too quiet a poem for the general taste, but I
think it will stand wear." To his friend, John Campbell Shairp, Arnold
wrote, a few days later: "Thyrsis is a very quiet poem, but, I think,
solid and sincere. It will not be popular, however. It had long been
in my head to connect Clough with that Cumner country, and, when I
began, I was carried irresistibly into this form. You say, truly, that
there was much in Clough (the whole prophetic side, in fact) which one
cannot deal with in this way.... Still, Clough had the idyllic side,
too; to deal with this suited my desire to deal again with that Cumner
country. Anyway, only so could I treat the matter this time. _Valeat
quantum_." [204]
=1.= Note how the tone of the poem is struck in the first line.
=2. In the two Hinkseys.= That is, North and South Hinksey. See note,
l. 125, _The Scholar-Gipsy._
=4. Sibylla's name.= In ancient mythology the Sibyls were certain
women reputed to possess special powers of prophecy, or divination,
and who claimed to make special intercession with the gods in behalf
of those who resorted to them. Do you see why their "name" would be
used on signs as here mentioned?
=6. ye hills.= See note, l. 30, _The Scholar-Gipsy._
=14. Ilsley Downs.= The surface of East and West Ilsley parishes, in
Berkshire, some twelve or fourteen miles south of Oxford, is broken by
ranges of plateau-like hills, known in England as _downs_.
=15. The Vale.= White Horse Vale; the upper valley of the River Ock,
westward from Oxford. =weirs=. See note, l. 95, _The Scholar-Gipsy._
[205]
=19. And that sweet city with her dreaming spires.= Arnold's intense
love for Oxford and the surrounding country appears in many of his
essays and poems. In the introduction to his _Essays on Criticism_,
Vol. I, occurs the following tribute: "Beautiful city! so venerable,
so lovely, so unravaged by the fierce intellectual life of our
century, so serene!
'There are our young barbarians all at play!'
And yet, steeped in sentiment as she lies, spreading her garments to
the moonlight, and whispering from her towers the last enchantment of
the Middle Age, who will deny that Oxford, by her ineffable charm,
keeps ever calling us nearer the true goal of all of us, to the ideal,
to perfection--to beauty, in a word, which is only truth seen from
another side?... Home of lost causes and forsaken beliefs and
unpopular names and impossible loyalties! what example could ever so
inspire us to keep down the Philistine in ourselves, what teacher
could ever so save us from that bondage to which we are all prone,
that bondage which Goethe, in his incomparable lines on the death of
Schiller, makes it his friend's highest praise ... to have left miles
out of sight behind him: the bondage of 'was uns alle bändigt, Das
Gemeine'?"
=20.= Compare with Lowell's lines on June, in _The Vision of Sir
Launfal_.
=22-23.= Explain.
=24. Once pass'd I blindfold here.= That is, at one time I could have
passed here blindfolded, being so familiar with the country. Can you
think of any other possible interpretation?
=26-30.= Explain.
=31-40.= Compare the thought here to that of Milton's _Lycidas_, ll.
23-38. A comparison of the two poems entire, in thought and structure,
will be found to be both interesting and profitable. =Shepherd-pipe=
(l. 35). The term =pipe=, also reed (l. 78), is continually used in
pastoral verse as symbolic of poetry and song. [206]
=38-45. Needs must I lose them=, etc. That is, I must lose them, etc.
Arnold's great ambition was to devote his life to literature, which
circumstances largely prevented; while Clough was eager to take a more
active part in life, not being content with the uneventful career of a
poet, =irk'd= (l. 40). Annoyed; worried. =keep= (l. 43). Here used in
the sense of remain, =silly= (l. 45). Harmless; senseless. The word has
an interesting history.
=46-50=. Like Arnold, Clough held lofty ideals of life, and grieved to
see men living so far below their privileges. This, with his loss
of faith in God, tinged his poetry with sadness. The storms (l. 49)
allude to the spiritual, political, and social unrest of the last of
the first half, and first of the last half, of the nineteenth century.
=51-60. So ... So....= Just as the cuckoo departs with the bloom of
the year, so he (Clough) went, l. 48. =With blossoms red and white=
(l. 55). The white thorn, or hawthorn, very common in English gardens.
=62. high Midsummer pomps=. Explained in the following lines.
=71. light comer=. That is, the cuckoo. Compare
"O blithe New-comer."
--WORDSWORTH, _Lines to the Cuckoo_.
=77. swains=. Consult dictionary.
=78. reed=. See note, l. 35 of poem.
=79. And blow a strain the world at last shall heed=. On the whole,
Clough's poetry was either ignored or harshly criticised by the
reviewers.
=80. Corydon=. In the Idyls of Theocritus, Corydon and Thyrsis,
shepherd swains, compete for a prize in music.
=84. Piping a ditty sad for Bion's fate=. Bion of Smyrna, Asia Minor,
a celebrated bucolic poet of the second century B.C., spent the later
years of his life in Sicily, where it is supposed he was poisoned.
His untimely death was lamented by his follower and pupil, Moschus of
Syracuse, in an idyl marked by melody and genuine pathos. =ditty=.
In a general sense, any song; usually confined, however, to a song
narrating some heroic deed. [207]
=85. cross the unpermitted ferry's flow=. That is, cross the river
of Woe, over which Charon ferried the shades of the dead to Hades.
Mythology records several instances, however, of the ferry being
passed by mortals. See note, ll. 34-39, _Memorial Verses_; also ll.
207-210, _The Scholar-Gipsy_, of this volume.
=88-89. Proserpine=, wife to Pluto (l. 86) and queen of the
underworld, was anciently honored, with flower festivals in Sicily, as
the goddess of the spring.
=90. And flute his friend like Orpheus=, etc. See note, ll. 34-39,
_Memorial Verses_.
=94. She knew the Dorian water's gush divine=. The river Alpheus,
in the northwestern part of the Peloponnesus--the country of the
Dorians--disappears from the surface and flows in subterranean
channels for some considerable part of its course to the sea. In
ancient Greek mythology it was reputed to rise again to the surface in
central Sicily, in the vale of Enna, the favorite haunt of Proserpine,
as the fountain of Arethusa.
=95-96. She knew each lily white which Enna yields=, etc. According to
Greek mythology, Proserpine was gathering flowers in the vale of Enna
when carried off by Pluto.
=97. She loved the Dorian pipe=, etc. What reason or reasons can you
give for Proserpine's love of things Dorian?
=106. I know the Fyfield tree=. See l. 83, _The Scholar-Gipsy_.
=109. Ensham, Sanford=. Small towns on the Thames; the former, some
four miles above Oxford; the latter, a like distance below.
=123. Wytham flats=. Some three miles above Oxford, along the Thames.
[208]
=135. sprent. Sprinkled=. The preterit or past participle of _spreng_
(obsolete or archaic).
=141-150=. Explain.
=155. Berkshire=. See note, l. 58, _The Scholar-Gipsy_.
=167. Arno-vale=. The valley of the Arno, a river in Tuscany, Italy,
on which Florence is situated.
=175. To a boon ... country he has fled=. That is, to Italy.
=177. the great Mother=. Ceres, the earth goddess.
=181-190=. Daphnis, the ideal Sicilian shepherd of Greek pastoral
poetry, was said to have followed into Phrygia his mistress Piplea,
who had been carried off by robbers, and to have found her in the
power of the king of Phrygia, Lityerses. Lityerses used to make
strangers try a contest with him in reaping corn, and to put them to
death if he overcame them. Hercules arrived in time to save Daphnis,
took upon himself the reaping contest with Lityerses, overcame him,
and slew him. The Lityerses-song connected with this tradition was,
like the Linus-song, one of the early, plaintive strains of Greek
popular poetry, and used to be sung by the corn reapers. Other
traditions represented Daphnis as beloved by a nymph, who exacted from
him an oath to love no one else. He fell in love with a princess, and
was struck blind by the jealous nymph. Mercury, who was his father,
raised him to heaven, and made a fountain spring up in the place from
which he ascended. At this fountain the Sicilians offered yearly
sacrifices. See Servius, _Comment, in Vergil. Bucol_., V, 20, and
VIII, 68.
=191-200=. Explain the lines. =Sole= (l. 192). See l. 563, _Sohrab and
Rustum_. =soft sheep= (l. 198). Note the use of the adjective _soft_.
Cf. _soft Sicily_, l. 245, _The Scholar-Gipsy_.
=201-202. A fugitive and gracious light=, etc. What is the light
sought by the Scholar-Gipsy and by the poet? Beginning with l. 201,
explain the succeeding stanzas, sentence by sentence, to the close of
the poem. Then sum up the thought in a few words.
[209]
What is the author's mood, as shown by the first stanza? What is his
purpose in recalling the haunts once familiar to him about Oxford?
Why the mention of the Scholar-Gipsy? What is the significance of the
"tree" so frequently alluded to in the poem? Discuss stanzas 4 and 5
as to meaning. To what is Thyrsis (Clough) likened in stanzas 6, 7,
and 8? Where, however, is there a difference? Apply ll. 81-84 to
Clough and Arnold. How do you explain the "easy access" of the Dorian
shepherds to Proserpine, l. 91? What digression is made in ll.
131-150? What is the poet's attitude toward life? Why will he not
despair so long as the "lonely tree" remains? What comparison does
he make between Clough and the Scholar-Gipsy? What is the "gracious
light," l. 201? Where found? What voice whispers to him amid the
"heart-wearying roar" of the city? What effect does it have upon him?
Does it give him courage or fortitude? Discuss the verse form and
diction of the poem.
RUGBY CHAPEL
_Rugby Chapel_ (1857), one of Arnold's best-known and most
characteristic productions, was written in memory of his father, Dr.
Thomas Arnold, famous as the great head-master at Rugby. Dr. Arnold
was born at East Cowes in the Isle of Wight, June 13, 1795, and as a
boy was at school at Warminster and Winchester. In 1811 he entered
Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and having won recognition as a
scholar, was awarded a fellowship of the Oriel in 1815. Three years
later he settled at Laleham, where, in 1820, he married Mary Penrose,
daughter of Justice Penrose, and where, two years later, was born
Matthew, who was destined to win marked distinction among English men
of letters. In 1827 he was elected head-master at Rugby, and shortly
afterward began those important reforms which have placed him among
the greatest educators of his century. Chief among his writings is
his _History of Rome_, published in several volumes. In 1841 he was
appointed Regius Professor of History at Oxford. He died very suddenly
on Sunday, June 12, 1842, and on the following Friday his remains
were interred in the chancel of Rugby Chapel, immediately under the
communion table. [210]
In his poem Arnold has drawn a vivid picture of a strong, helpful,
hopeful, unselfish soul, cheering and supporting his weaker comrades
in their upward and onward march--a picture of the guide and companion
of his earlier years; and in so doing he has preserved his father's
memory to posterity in a striking and an abiding way.
=1-13=. Note carefully the tone of these introductory lines, and
determine the poet's purpose in opening the poem in this mood. The
picture inevitably calls to mind Bryant's lines, _The Death of
Flowers_.
=16. gloom=. The key-word to the preceding lines. Explain why it calls
to mind the poet's father. Keats makes a similar use of the word
_forlorn_ in his _Ode to the Nightingale_.
"... forlorn.
Forlorn! the very word is like a bell
To toll me back from thee to my sole self."
=30-33=. Discuss the figure as to its aptness.
=37. shore=. A word common to hymns.
=38-57=. Discuss the poet's idea of the future life as set forth in
these lines. Can you think of any other author or authors who have
held a like view?
=58-59=. The poet asks this question only to answer it in the lines
following. Compare and contrast the two classes of men spoken of;
their aims in life and their achievements. Why is the path of those
who have chosen a "clear-purposed goal" pictured so difficult? Who are
they that start well, but fall out by the wayside? [211]
=90-93=. Compare with Byron's description of a storm in the Alps,