Matthew Arnold's Sohrab and Rustum and Other Poems Part 27

What is the dominant mood of the poem? What evidently brought it to the author's mind? How does he show his interest in nature? In human beings? What inspiration does the author seek from nature, ll. 37-42?

Explain the meaning of the last two lines.

THE STRAYED REVELLER

"I have such a love for these forms and this old Greek world, that perhaps I infuse a little soul into my dealings with them, which saves me from being entirely _ennuyx_, professorial and pedantic." (Matthew Arnold, in a letter to his sister, dated February, 1858.)

Circe, according to Greek mythology, was an enchantress, who dwelt in the island of aeaea, and who possessed the power to transform men into beasts. (See any mythological text on Ulysses' wanderings.) In Arnold's fantastic, visionary poem, the magic potion, by which this transformation is accomplished, affects not the body, but the mind of the youth.

=12. ivy-cinctured.= That is, girdled with ivy, symbolic of Bacchus, the G.o.d of wine and revelry, whose forehead was crowned with ivy. See also l. 33. [180]

=36. rout.= Consult dictionary.

=38. Iacchus.= In the Eleusinian mysteries, Bacchus bore the name of Iacchus. =fane.= A temple. From the Latin _fanum_, a place of worship dedicated to any deity.

=48. The lions sleeping.= As Ulysses' companions approached Circe's palace, following their landing on her island, they found themselves "surrounded by lions, tigers, and wolves, not fierce but tamed by Circe's art, for she was a powerful magician."

=67. Pan's flute music!= Pan, the G.o.d of pastures and woodlands, was the inventor of the syrinx, or shepherd's flute, with which he accompanied himself and his followers in the dance.

=71. Ulysses.= The celebrated hero of the Trojan war; also famous for his wanderings. One of his chief adventures, on his return voyage from Troy, was with the enchantress Circe, with whom he tarried a year, forgetful of his faithful wife, Penelope, at home.

=72. Art.= That is, are you. (Now used only in solemn or poetic style.)

=73. range.= Wander aimlessly about.

=74. See what the day brings.= That is, the youth. See ll. 24-52

=81. Nymphs.= G.o.ddesses of the mountains, forests, meadows, or waters, belonging to the lower rank of deities.

=102-107.= Compare in thought with Tennyson's poem, _Ulysses_.

=110. The favour'd guest of Circe.= Ulysses. See note, l. 71.

=120. Muses.= Daughters of Jupiter and Minemosyne, nine in number.

According to the earliest writers the Muses were only the inspiring G.o.ddesses of song; but later they were looked to as the divinities presiding over the different kinds of poetry, and over the arts and sciences.

[181]

=130-135.= Note the poet's device for presenting a series of mental pictures. Compare with Tennyson's plan in his _Palace of Art_. Does Arnold's plan seem more or less mechanical than Tennyson's?

=135-142. Tiresias.= The blind prophet of =Thebes= (l. 142), the chief city in Boeotia, near the river =Asopus= (l. 138). In his youth, Tiresias unwittingly came upon Athene while she was bathing, and was punished by the loss of sight. As a recompense for this misfortune, the G.o.ddess afterward gave him knowledge of future events. The inhabitants of Thebes looked to Tiresias for direction in times of war.

=143. Centaurs.= Monsters, half man, half horse.

=145. Pelion.= A mountain in eastern Thessaly, famous in Greek mythology. In the war between the giants and the G.o.ds, the former, in their efforts to scale the heavens, piled Ossa upon Olympus and Pelion upon Ossa.

=151-161.= What in these lines enables you to determine the people and country alluded to?

=162-167. Scythian ... embers.= The ancient Greek term for the nomadic tribes inhabiting the whole north and northeast Europe and Asia. As a distinct people they built no cities, and formed no general government, but wandered from place to place by tribes, in their rude, covered carts (see l. 164), living upon the coa.r.s.est kind of food (ll.

166-167).

=177-180. Cl.u.s.ters of lonely mounds, etc.= That is, ruins of ancient cities.

=183. Chorasmian stream.= See note, l. 878, _Sohrab and Rustum_.

=197. milk-barr'd onyx-stones.= A reference to the white streaks, or bars, common to the onyx.

=206. Happy Islands.= Mythical islands lying far to the west, the abode of the heroes after death.

=220. Hera's anger.= Hera (or Juno), wife to Jupiter, was noted for her violent temper and jealousy. She is here represented as visiting punishment upon the bard, perhaps out of jealousy of the G.o.ds who had endowed him with poetic power, and his life, thus afflicted, seems lengthened to seven ages. [182]

=228-229. Lapithae.= In Greek legends, a fierce Thessalian race, governed by Pirothous, a half-brother to the Centaurs. =Theseus.= The chief hero of Attica, who, according to tradition, united the several tribes of Attica into one state, with Athens as the capital. His life was filled with adventure. The reference here is to the time of the marriage of Pirothous and Hippodamia, on which occasion the Centaurs, who were among the guests, became intoxicated, and offered indignities to the bride. In the fight that followed, Theseus joined with the Lapithae, and many of the Centaurs were slain.

=231. Alcmena's dreadful son.= Hercules. On his expedition to capture the Arcadian boar, his third labor, Hercules became involved in a broil with the Centaurs, and in self-defence slew several of them with his arrows.

=245. Oxus stream.= See note, l. 2, _Sohrab and Rustum_.

=254. Heroes.= The demiG.o.ds of mythology.

=257. Troy.= The capital of Troas, Asia Minor; the seat of the Trojan war.

=254-260.= Shortly after the close of the Trojan war, a party of heroes from all parts of Greece, many of whom had partic.i.p.ated in the expeditions against Thebes and Troy, set out under the leadership of Jason to capture the Golden Fleece. Leaving the sh.o.r.es of Thessaly, the adventurers sailed eastward and finally came to the entrance of the =Euxine Sea= (the =unknown sea=, l. 260), which was guarded by the Clashing Islands. Following the instructions of the sage Phineus, Jason let fly a dove between the islands, and at the moment of rebound the expedition pa.s.sed safely through. The ship in which the adventurers sailed was called the Argo, after its builder, Argus; hence our term Argonauts.

[183]

=261. Silenus.= A divinity of Asiatic origin; foster-father to Bacchus and leader of the =Fauns= (l. 265), satyr-like divinities, half man, half goat, sometimes represented in art as hearing torches (l. 274).

=275. Maenad.= A bacchante,--a priestess or votary of Bacchus.

=276. Faun with torches.= See note, l. 261.

What is the situation at the beginning of the poem? What effect does the "liquor" have upon the youth? Why is the presence of Ulysses so much in harmony with the situation? How does he greet Circe; how the youth? What does his presence suggest to the latter? Why? Note the vividness of the pictures he describes; also the swiftness with which he changes from one to another. What power is ascribed to the poet?

Why his "pain"? What effect is gained by closing the poem with the same words with which it is opened? Why the irregular verse used?

DOVER BEACH

In this poem is expressed the peculiar turn of Arnold's mind, at once religious and sceptical, philosophical and emotional. It is one of his most pa.s.sionate interpretations of life.

=15. Sophocles= (495-406 B.C.). One of the three great tragic poets of Greece. His rivals were aeschylus (526-456 B.C.) and Euripides (486-406 B.C.).

=16. aegean Sea.= See note, l. 236, _The Scholar-Gipsy_.

Image the scene in the opening stanzas. What is the author's mood?