Sohrab and Rustum

Matthew Arnold was born on the 24th December 1822 in Laleham, Surrey. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby school.

In 1836, Arnold was sent to Winchester College, but the following year he was enrolled in the fifth form at Rugby. In the sixth form he came under the tutelage of his father. Whilst there Arnold won many school prizes for English essay writing, together with Latin and English poetry.

His first volume, ‘The Strayed Reveller, and Other Poems’ was published in 1849.

Wishing to marry, but unable to on the meagre wages of a private secretary, Arnold sought, and was appointed, in April 1851, as one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools. It was a necessary sacrifice and overall he found the work miserable. However, the income and security enabled him to marry Frances Lucy in June, 1851. They would have six children.

In 1852, Arnold published ‘Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems’ followed in 1853 by ‘Poems: A New Edition’ that included his epic ‘Sohrab and Rustum’. In 1854, ‘Poems: Second Series’ was published.

Arnold was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford in 1857, and was the first incumbent to deliver his lectures in English rather than in Latin. He was re-elected in 1862.

Matthew Arnold died on 15th April, 1888 of heart failure whilst running to catch a train that would have taken him to see his daughter, who was visiting from the United States. He was 65.

Arnold is often referred to as the third great Victorian poet, along with Tennyson and Browning. He was also keenly aware of his stature. In a letter in 1869 to his mother, he wrote:

‘’My poems represent, on the whole, the main movement of mind of the last quarter of a century, and thus they will probably have their day as people become conscious to themselves of what that movement of mind is”.