Arnold's The Study Of Poetry By Matthew Arnold

A prominent humanist, critic, and poet of the 18th century, Matthew Arnold was a despiser of philistinism; he was a lover and sustainer of art, intellect, spirituality, and certainly the combination thereof in poetry. Matthew Arnold began his essay, “The Study of Poetry,” writing that “The future of poetry is immense,” and that “more and more of mankind” would discover poetry as a consoler, a sustainer of humanity, and an interpreter of life. He called his audience to “conceive of it as capable of higher uses, and called to higher destinies.” Arnold, believing poetry to be of such high value, was also very dedicated to upholding a high standard in the world of poetry. His dedication is shown clearly through his writings as a critic, but Arnold was also a poet himself. His collection is not very well known, and not very vast in number or range. However, in much of the poetry that Matthew Arnold did write, he perpetuated his views regarding the ‘high destinies’ of poetry through his use of sound

Arnold also uses oddly irregular rhyme schemes, as seen in Dover Beach, which has different patterns for each stanza, including ABACDBDCEFCGF and ABCDBEDC. A rhyme scheme, by nature, sets up a kind of control over a poem once it is implemented because it limits word choice to that of certain sounds. In “Dover Beach,” Arnold maintains the usage of similar sounds and the repetition of rhymes, giving the poem a euphonic nature, but does not confine them to any set pattern throughout the poem. This structure aids in the poem in that the poem itself is a call to be unconventional, as the conventional world is failing. The choice of Arnold here to not set a regular pattern, though he is fully capable, emphasizes his dedication to presenting unwaxed truth by construction meaning through