Arnold, Matthew

Renowned English poet and critic, Arnold was a leading literary figure of the Victorian Period. He is regarded by many as the link between the Romantic and the Modern Age. His writings have a distinct style which is characterized by use of symbolism and earnestness. He is also credited for popularizing the term “Philistines”.
His father Thomas Arnold was a famous historian and headmaster of Rugby School. Arnold himself studied at Rugby and Balliol College before becoming a Fellow at the Oriel College, Oxford in 1845. During his school years he won various prizes for his poems. He started his professional career as a private secretary to Lord President of the Privy Council. In 1851 he was appointed an inspector of schools. Arnold’s first book of poetry, The Strayed Reveller and Other Poems by A, was published in 1849. His first piece as a critic was Preface to the Poems which appeared in 1853. In 1857 he became a professor of poetry at Oxford and retained this position for ten years.
Arnold’s most celebrated poems include Sohrab and Rustum, The Scholar Gipsy, Balder Dead, Thyrsis, Rugby Chapel, The Weary Titan, and Dover Beach. His most renowned prose writings are On Translating Homer (1861, 1862), Essays in Celtic Literature (1868), Culture and Anarchy (1869), Literature and Dogma (1873), God and the Bible (1875), Irish Essays (1882), and Discourses in America (1885).
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Renowned English poet and critic, Arnold was a leading literary figure of the Victorian Period. He is regarded by many as the link between the Romantic and the Modern Age.;