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Complete Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold QUOTES

Complete Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold QUOTES

1 " But often, in the world’s most crowded streets,
But often, in the din of strife,
There rises an unspeakable desire
After the knowledge of our buried life;
A thirst to spend our fire and restless force
In tracking out our true, original course;
A longing to inquire
Into the mystery of this heart which beats
So wild, so deep in us—to know
Whence our lives come and where they go. "

― Matthew Arnold , Complete Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold

2 " THE THOUGHTS that rain their steady glow Like stars on life’s cold sea, Which others know, or say they know — They never shone for me.   Thoughts light, like gleams, my spirit’s sky,   5 But they will not remain. They light me once, they hurry by, And never come again. "

― Matthew Arnold , Complete Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold

3 " Man must begin, know this, where Nature ends; Nature and man can never be fast friends. Fool, if thou canst not pass her, rest her slave! "

― Matthew Arnold , Complete Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold

4 " WEARY of myself, and sick of asking What I am, and what I ought to be, At the vessel’s prow I stand, which bears me Forwards, forwards, o’er the starlit sea. And a look of passionate desire   5 O’er the sea and to the stars I send: ‘Ye who from my childhood up have calm’d me, Calm me, ah, compose me to the end. ‘Ah, once more,’ I cried, ‘ye Stars, ye Waters, On my heart your mighty charm renew:   10 Still, still let me, as I gaze upon you, Feel my soul becoming vast like you.’ From the intense, clear, star-sown vault of heaven, Over the lit sea’s unquiet way, In the rustling night-air came the answer — 15 ‘Wouldst thou be as these are? Live as they. ‘Unaffrighted by the silence round them, Undistracted by the sights they see, These demand not that the things without them Yield them love, amusement, sympathy.   20 ‘And with joy the stars perform their shining, And the sea its long moon-silver’d roll. For alone they live, nor pine with noting All the fever of some differing soul. ‘Bounded by themselves, and unobservant   25 In what state God’s other works may be, In their own tasks all their powers pouring, These attain the mighty life you see.’ O air-born Voice! long since, severely clear, A cry like thine in my own heart I hear.   30 ‘Resolve to be thyself: and know, that he Who finds himself, loses his misery. "

― Matthew Arnold , Complete Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold

5 " The slightest deviation from the line of clear conviction — the least turning to left or right in order to cocker a prejudice or please an audience or flatter a class, showed a want of delicacy — a preference of present popularity to permanent self-respect — which he could never have indulged in himself, and with difficulty tolerated in others. He had nothing but contempt for “philosophical politicians with a turn for swimming with the stream, and philosophical divines with the same turn. "

― Matthew Arnold , Complete Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold