MATTHEW ARNOLD SAID

 

 

                                                MATTHEW ARNOLD SAID

English poet and critic Matthew Arnold  (1822-1888) said in his poem Dover Beach :

                             …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.

Some readers will dub Arnold,  on the basis of this extract, a pessimist, which he is not.  He is a realist.  A famous proverb echoes Arnold’s view : Appearances are deceptive. 

 

Several great poets have compared this world to a prison house where human beings are sent to serve their punishment for the offence which they allegedly  committed in heaven.

 

And according to Lord Buddha, the world is a place of suffering.  

                                                            ………….

12^th March 2023                                                                G. R. Kanwal