'Memorial Verses: April 1850' by Matthew Arnold

AI and Tech Aggregator
Download Mp3s Free
Tears of the Kingdom Roleplay
Best Free University Courses Online
TOTK Roleplay



Goethe in Weimar sleeps, and Greece,
Long since, saw Byron's struggle cease.
But one such death remain'd to come;
The last poetic voice is dumb--
We stand to-day by Wordsworth's tomb.

When Byron's eyes were shut in death,
We bow'd our head and held our breath.
He taught us little; but our soul
Had felt him like the thunder's roll.
With shivering heart the strife we saw
Of passion with eternal law;
And yet with reverential awe
We watch'd the fount of fiery life
Which served for that Titanic strife.

When Goethe's death was told, we said:
Sunk, then, is Europe's sagest head.
Physician of the iron age,
Goethe has done his pilgrimage.
He took the suffering human race,
He read each wound, each weakness clear;
And struck his finger on the place,
And said: Thou ailest here, and here!

He look'd on Europe's dying hour
Of fitful dream and feverish power;
His eye plunged down the weltering strife,
The turmoil of expiring life--
He said: The end is everywhere,
Art still has truth, take refuge there!
And he was happy, if to know
Causes of things, and far below
His feet to see the lurid flow
Of terror, and insane distress,
And headlong fate, be happiness.

And Wordsworth!--Ah, pale ghosts, rejoice!
For never has such soothing voice
Been to your shadowy world convey'd,
Since erst, at morn, some wandering shade
Heard the clear song of Orpheus come
Through Hades, and the mournful gloom.
Wordsworth has gone from us--and ye,
Ah, may ye feel his voice as we!
He too upon a wintry clime
Had fallen--on this iron time
Of doubts, disputes, distractions, fears.
He found us when the age had bound
Our souls in its benumbing round;
He spoke, and loosed our heart in tears.
He laid us as we lay at birth
On the cool flowery lap of earth,
Smiles broke from us and we had ease;

The hills were round us, and the breeze
Went o'er the sun-lit fields again;
Our foreheads felt the wind and rain.
Our youth return'd; for there was shed
On spirits that had long been dead,
Spirits dried up and closely furl'd,
The freshness of the early world.

Ah! since dark days still bring to light
Man's prudence and man's fiery might,
Time may restore us in his course
Goethe's sage mind and Byron's force;
But where will Europe's latter hour
Again find Wordsworth's healing power?
Others will teach us how to dare,
And against fear our breast to steel;
Others will strengthen us to bear--
But who, ah! who, will make us feel?
The cloud of mortal destiny,
Others will front it fearlessly--
But who, like him, will put it by?

Keep fresh the grass upon his grave,
O Rotha, with thy living wave!
Sing him thy best! for few or none
Hears thy voice right, now he is gone.

Editor 1 Interpretation

Memorial Verses: April 1850 by Matthew Arnold

Oh, weep for Adonais! the quick Dreams, The passion-winged Ministers of thought, Who were his flocks, whom near the living streams Of his young spirit he fed.

With these powerful lines, Matthew Arnold opens his elegiac poem "Memorial Verses: April 1850". The poem, written in memory of Percy Bysshe Shelley, is a masterpiece of Victorian poetry, full of rich imagery and deep emotions.

The Theme of Death

At its core, "Memorial Verses" is a meditation on the nature of death and the human response to it. Arnold begins by painting a picture of Adonais (Shelley) as a shepherd of sorts, tending to his flock of ideas and artistic creations. But then, in a sudden and violent shift, Adonais is taken from the world, leaving behind only grief and despair.

Weep for Adonais! -- The quick Dreams, The passion-winged Ministers of thought, Who were his flocks, whom near the living streams Of his young spirit he fed, Who are now exiled from his breast to dwell, In the serene air of wide Hypocrisy; Spiritless shapes, which err in vacuity!

Arnold's language is powerful and evocative, capturing the sense of loss and emptiness that accompanies death. The idea that Adonais's ideas and creations are now "exiled" and "spiritless shapes" is particularly poignant, reflecting the way in which death can rob us of our purpose and meaning.

The Power of Art

Despite the overwhelming sense of loss and despair that permeates the poem, there is also a thread of hope that runs through it. Arnold seems to suggest that even in the face of death, art has the power to endure and to offer solace and comfort to those left behind.

For example, he writes:

He has outsoared the shadow of our night; Envy and calumny and hate and pain, And that unrest which men miscall delight, Can touch him not and torture not again; From the contagion of the world's slow stain He is secure.

Here, Arnold is suggesting that Shelley's legacy is secure, that even though he has been taken from the world, his ideas and creations live on. This idea is further developed later in the poem, where Arnold writes:

He lives, he wakes -- 'tis Death is dead, not he; Mourn not for Adonais. -- Thou young Dawn, Turn all thy dew to splendour, for from thee The spirit thou lament'st is not gone; Ye caverns and ye forests, cease to moan! Cease, ye faint flowers and fountains, and thou Air Which like a mourning veil thy scarf hadst thrown O'er the abandoned Earth, now leave it bare Even to the joyous stars which smile on its despair!

Here, Arnold is suggesting that even though Shelley is dead, his spirit lives on, and that his ideas and creations can bring joy and hope to a world that is otherwise abandoned and despairing.

The Language of the Poem

One of the things that makes "Memorial Verses" so powerful is Arnold's use of language. His words are rich and evocative, full of imagery and emotion.

For example, consider this passage:

He is made one with Nature: there is heard His voice in all her music, from the moan Of thunder, to the song of night's sweet bird; He is a presence to be felt and known In darkness and in light, from herb and stone, Spreading itself where'er that Power may move Which has withdrawn his being to its own; Which wields the world with never-wearied love, Sustains it from beneath, and kindles it above.

Here, Arnold is suggesting that even though Shelley is gone, his presence is still felt in the natural world. The idea that his voice is heard in "all her music" is particularly powerful, as it suggests that even though he is dead, he is still a living presence in the world.

Conclusion

In conclusion, "Memorial Verses: April 1850" is a masterpiece of Victorian poetry, full of rich imagery and deep emotion. Through his elegiac meditation on the nature of death and the power of art, Matthew Arnold offers a powerful and moving tribute to Percy Bysshe Shelley, and a testament to the enduring power of human creativity.

Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation

Matthew Arnold’s “Memorial Verses: April 1850” is a classic poem that has stood the test of time. It is a beautiful and poignant tribute to his friend, Arthur Hugh Clough, who died in April 1861. The poem is a reflection on the transience of life and the inevitability of death. Arnold uses vivid imagery and powerful language to convey his emotions and to pay homage to his friend.

The poem begins with the lines, “Goethe in Weimar sleeps, and Greece, / Long since, saw Byron’s struggle cease.” These lines set the tone for the rest of the poem. Arnold is reminding us that even the greatest minds and talents eventually succumb to death. Goethe and Byron were both giants of literature, but they are now gone. This is a sobering thought, but it is also a reminder that we should cherish the time we have and make the most of it.

Arnold then turns his attention to Clough, his friend who has passed away. He describes Clough as “one, whose clear and faithful sight, / Seeing all, yet saw aright.” This is a beautiful tribute to Clough’s intelligence and insight. Arnold is saying that Clough had a unique ability to see the world clearly and to understand it in a way that few others could.

Arnold then goes on to describe Clough’s personality. He says that Clough was “gentle, humorous, wise.” These are all qualities that we would want in a friend. Arnold is saying that Clough was not only intelligent, but he was also kind and had a good sense of humor. This makes his passing all the more tragic.

The poem then takes a turn, as Arnold reflects on his own mortality. He says, “Ah, gone already, gone / With the old world, with things of yesterday!” This is a powerful statement, as Arnold is acknowledging that he too will eventually die. He is saying that everything we know and love will eventually pass away. This is a sobering thought, but it is also a reminder that we should live our lives to the fullest and make the most of the time we have.

Arnold then returns to his tribute to Clough. He says that Clough was “one, whose voice will be / For ever sweet, for ever young.” This is a beautiful sentiment, as Arnold is saying that Clough’s memory will live on forever. Even though Clough is gone, his voice and his spirit will continue to inspire and comfort those who knew him.

The poem ends with the lines, “O, friend, if keeping back / Would keep back age from us, / And death, and that we might not wrack / In the world’s tumultuous fuss.” This is a powerful statement, as Arnold is saying that if he could keep his friend alive, he would. He is saying that he wishes he could protect his friend from the ravages of time and the chaos of the world.

In conclusion, Matthew Arnold’s “Memorial Verses: April 1850” is a beautiful and poignant tribute to his friend, Arthur Hugh Clough. The poem is a reflection on the transience of life and the inevitability of death. Arnold uses vivid imagery and powerful language to convey his emotions and to pay homage to his friend. The poem is a reminder that we should cherish the time we have and make the most of it. Even though Clough is gone, his memory will live on forever. This is a beautiful sentiment, and it is a testament to the power of friendship and the enduring nature of the human spirit.

Editor Recommended Sites

GraphStorm: Graphstorm framework by AWS fan page, best practice, tutorials
Anime Roleplay - Online Anime Role playing & rp Anime discussion board: Roleplay as your favorite anime character in your favorite series. RP with friends & Role-Play as Anime Heros
Learn NLP: Learn natural language processing for the cloud. GPT tutorials, nltk spacy gensim
Data Governance - Best cloud data governance practices & AWS and GCP Data Governance solutions: Learn cloud data governance and find the best highest rated resources
Learn Beam: Learn data streaming with apache beam and dataflow on GCP and AWS cloud

Recommended Similar Analysis

Last of The Flock, The by William Wordsworth analysis
Two Sisters Of Persephone by Sylvia Plath analysis
A Winter Eden by Robert Lee Frost analysis
One dignity delays for all by Emily Dickinson analysis
GRACE FOR A CHILD by Robert Herrick analysis
Ode To Sleep by Thomas Warton analysis
Guilt and Sorrow by William Wordsworth analysis
Further in Summer than the Birds by Emily Dickinson analysis
There is another sky by Emily Dickinson analysis
Facing West From California's Shores by Walt Whitman analysis