PoemSo, loath to suffer mute, We, peopling the void air, Make Gods to whom to impute The ills we ought to bear.Matthew ArnoldEmpedocles on Etna · 1852★ 5.3
Political literatureIt is a very great thing to be able to think as you like; but, after all, an important question remains: what you think.Matthew ArnoldDemocracy · 1861★ 5.3
PoemWho order'd, that their longing's fire Should be, as soon as kindled, cool'd? Who renders vain their deep desire? A God, a God their severance rul'd! And bade betwixt their shores to be The unplumb'd, salt, estranging sea.Matthew Arnold1852★ 5.2
The sea of faith Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl'd; But now I only hear Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, Retreating, to the breath Of the night-wind down the vast edges drear And naked shingles of the world. Ah, love, let us be true To one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night.Matthew ArnoldDover Beach · 1867★ 5.2