Arnold, Matthew

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin

(1822-1888)

Poet and critic, s. of Dr. A., of Rugby (q.v.), was b. at Laleham and ed. at Rugby, Winchester, and Balliol Coll., Oxford, becoming a Fellow of Oriel in 1845. Thereafter he was private secretary to Lord Lansdowne, Lord President of the Council, through whose influence he was in 1851 appointed an inspector of schools. Two years before this he had pub. his first book of poetry, The Strayed Reveller, which he soon withdrew: some of the poems, however, including "Mycerinus" and "The Forsaken Merman," were afterwards republished, and the same applies to his next book, Empedocles on Etna (1852), with "Tristram and Iseult." In 1857 he was appointed to the Professorship of Poetry at Oxford, which he held for ten years. After this he produced little poetry and devoted himself to criticism and theology. His principal writings are, in poetry, Poems (1853), containing "Sohrab and Rustum," and "The Scholar Gipsy;" Poems, 2nd Series (1855), containing "Balder Dead;" Merope (1858); New Poems (1867), containing "Thyrsis," an elegy on A.H. Clough (q.v.), "A Southern Night," "Rugby Chapel," and "The Weary Titan"; in prose he wrote On Translating Homer (1861 and 1862), On the Study of Celtic Literature (1867), Essays in Celtic Literature (1868), 2nd Series (1888), Culture and Anarchy (1869), St. Paul and Protestantism (1870), Friendship's Garland (1871), Literature and Dogma (1873), God and the Bible (1875), Last Essays on Church and Religion (1877), Mixed Essays (1879), Irish Essays (1882), and Discourses in America (1885). He also wrote some works on the state of education on the Continent. In 1883 he received a pension of £250. The rationalistic tendency of certain of his writings gave offence to many readers, and the sufficiency of his equipment in scholarship for dealing with some of the subjects which he handled was called in question; but he undoubtedly exercised a stimulating influence on his time; his writings are characterised by the finest culture, high purpose, sincerity, and a style of great distinction, and much of his poetry has an exquisite and subtle beauty, though here also it has been doubted whether high culture and wide knowledge of poetry did not sometimes take the place of the true poetic fire.

There is a bibliography of A.'s works by T.B. Smart (1892), and books upon him have been written by Prof. Saintsbury (1899), H. Paul (1902), and G.W.E. Russell (1904), also papers by Sir L. Stephen, F. Harrison, and others.

Related Words

Matthew
given; a reward ...

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
Matthew
Gift of God, a common Jewish name after the Exile. He was the son of Alphaeus, and was a publican or...

Easton's Bible Dictionary
Matthew
(gift of Jehovah). (A contraction, as is also Matthias, of Mattathias. His original name was Levi, a...

William Smith's Bible Dictionary
Arnold, Thomas
(1795-1842) Historian, s. of an inland revenue officer in the Isle of Wight, was ed. at Winchester ...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Green, Matthew
(1696-1737) Poet, is known as the author of The Spleen, a lively and original poem in octosyllabic ...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Henry, Matthew
(1662-1714) Commentator, s. of Philip H., a learned Nonconformist divine, was b. in Flintshire. He ...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Paris, Matthew
(c. 1195-1259) Chronicler, entered in 1217 the Benedictine Monastery of St. Albans, and continued t...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Prior, Matthew
(1664-1721) Poet, b. near Wimborne Minster, Dorset, s. of a joiner who, having d., he was ed. by an...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
matthew walker
A knot, so termed from the originator. It is formed by a half hitch on each strand in the direction ...

The Sailor's Word-Book
Arnold, Sir Edwin
(1832-1904) Poet, s. of a Sussex magistrate, was b. at Gravesend, and ed. at King's School, Rochest...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Bennett, Enoch Arnold
(b. 1867) Novelist, etc. A Man from the North (1898), Polite Farces (1899), Anna of the Five Towns ...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Hale, Sir Matthew
(1609-1676) Jurist and miscellaneous writer, has left a great reputation as a lawyer and judge. Ste...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Lewis, Matthew Gregory
(1775-1818) Novelist, s. of Matthew L., Deputy Sec. in the War Office, was ed. at Westminster and O...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Barrie, James Matthew
LL.D. (b. 1860) Novelist and dramatist. Auld Licht Idylls, When a Man's Single (1888), A Window in...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Shiel, Matthew Phipps
(b. 1865) Novelist. The Rajah's Sapphire, Shapes in the Fire, The Yellow Danger, Unto the Third Gen...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
(St.) Matthew Friday Street
On the east side of Friday Street in Bread Street Ward and Farringdon Ward Within (O.S. 1880). Firs...

A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.
(St.) Matthew Silver Street
Mentioned in Fabyan's Chronicle. See St. Olave Silver Street. ...

A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.
Matthew, Gospel Of
Its authorship .-That this Gospel was written by the apostle Matthew there is no reason to doubt. Se...

William Smith's Bible Dictionary
Matthew, Gospel according to
The author of this book was beyond a doubt the Matthew, an apostle of our Lord, whose name it bears....

Easton's Bible Dictionary