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Poems by Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold

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rachelbaack's review against another edition

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 I have read the following poems by Matthew Arnold that can be found in this work (listed alphabetically with ratings):

• “The Buried Life”: The speaker talks about the human inability to express the true inner self except in very rare occasions. A profoundly relatable piece of writing. Rating: 5/5
•  “Dover Beach”: A description of a beachfront that turns into a contemplation of reality, faith, and love. Rating: 2.5/5 
• “Growing Old”: The speaker offers a picture of what it means to grow old that is both profound and melancholy. Despite my disagreement with the poet about the nature of aging, I enjoy the poem’s depth. Rating: 4.5/5 
• “The Last Word”: The speaker notes his audience’s exhaustion with their striving but charges them to fight until the end. Rating: 4.5/5 
• “Memorial Verses”: This poem mourns the loss of William Wordsworth, whom Arnold considers to be “the last poetic voice.” The speaker praises Wordsworth’s ability to make his readers feel. Rating: 4/5 
• “Palladium”: The speaker considers the protection that the Palladium, a wooden image of Pallas Athena, protects the city of Troy, even if the citizens of the city don’t fully recognize it. Rating: 4.5/10 
• “Philomela”: Arnold draws on the myth of Philomela, who was raped by her sister’s husband and subsequently had her tongue cut out. She was able to communicate what had happened to her sister by weaving a tapestry, and her sister, Procne, killed and fed her own son to her husband. Before the husband could kill both women, all three people were turned into birds. In Arnold’s poem, the speaker sees one of the birds (whose identity is ambiguous; it could be Philomela or Procne) and reflects on its eternal sorrow. Rating: 2/5 
• “Preface” (from the first edition of Poems): Matthew Arnold explains his reasons for excluding a certain poem from the collection, and he argues that good poetry focuses on great actions rather than great expression, that actions of ancient times are no less suitable (and probably more so) than those of the present day as subjects, and that writers should look to ancient poets for inspiration. Rating: 2/5
• “The Scholar-Gipsy”: This poem tells the story of a young man who left Oxford because he couldn’t afford it, joined a band of gypsies, and said that, once he had gained a full understanding of the “secret of their art,” he would share it with others. For many years, people report sighting the elusive young man. Rating: 4/5
• “To Margarite—Continued”: The speaker notes the separation and aloneness that people feel, as well as the longing to end that separation. Rating: 4/5