rs humanity is one born of the scientific
temper, a creed of stoical endurance and unswerving allegiance to the
voice of duty. Many readers miss in Arnold the solace that they find
in Wordsworth and the tonic faith that is omnipresent in Browning.
Arnold himself was not wholly satisfied with his creed; but his cool
reason refused him the solace of an unquestioning faith. Arnold has
been called "the poet of the Universities," because of the reflective
scholarly thought in his verse. It breathes the atmosphere of books
and of the study. Such poetry cannot appeal to the masses. It is for
the thinker.

The style of verse that lends itself best to Arnold's genius is the
elegiac lyric. _The Scholar Gypsy_ and its companion piece _Thyrsis,
Memorial Verses, Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse,_ and _Stanzas in
Memory of the Author of "Obermann"_ are some of his best elegies.

_Sohrab and Rustam_ and _Balder Dead_ are Arnold's finest narrative
poems. They are stately, dignified recitals of the deeds of heroes and
gods. The series of poems entitled _Switzerland_ and _Dover Beach_ are
among Arnold's most beautiful lyrics. A fine description of the surf
is contained in the last-named poem:--

"Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in."

Neither the movement of the narrative nor the lightness of the lyric
is wholly congenial to Arnold's introspective melancholy muse.

Prose Works.--Although Arnold's first works were in poetry, he won
recognition as a prose writer before he was widely known as a poet.
His works in prose comprise such subjects as literary criticism,
education, theology, and social ethics. As a critic of literature, he
surpasses all his great contemporaries. Neither Macaulay nor Carlyle
possessed the critical acumen, the taste, ana the cultivated judgment
of literary works, in such fullness as Matthew Arnold.

His greatest contributions to critical literature are the various
magazine articles that were collected in the two volumes entitled
_Essays in Criticism_ (1865-1888). In these essays Arnold displays
great breadth of culture and fairness of mind. He rises superior to
the narrow provincialism and racial prejudices that he deprecates in
other criticisms of literature. He gives the same sympathetic
consideration