Write the summary and explanation of the Poem entitled "Memorial

Write the summary and explanation of the Poem entitled “Memorial Verses”.

Ans.

Summary of the Poem

Arnold uses the occasion of Wordsworth’s death to pay his tribute to two other immortal poets-Goethe and Byron. Arnold is never happier than in his criticism of poets in verse. Such metrical compositions, “always penetrate to the heart of the writer criticize, and always bring into prominence his lesson to the world. Thus, in the ‘Memorial Verses’, it is the Titanic force of Byron, the vast intellectual sweep and penetrating sagacity of Goethe, and the soothing calm of Wordsworth, that be insists upon; and probably nowhere within equal compass is there such illuminating criticism of these writers. It is a remarkable illustration of Arnold’s fine taste that he never in these critical verses forgets the difference between prose and poetry; we never feel that this would have been better said in plain prose. In his critical poems, Arnold is quite different from Browning in his poems of art; because in the first place Browning always conceives his subject dramatically, and in the second place he tries, at least where he is dealing with poetry, to get at the principles of the art from the point of view of the plot he imagines. Arnold contents himself with showing what, in point of fact, the writers spoken of do. It is enough for him to note the actual effect of Wordsworth’s verse, he advances no theory as to how it is produced, still less does he attempt to speak in the voice of Wordsworth. (Hugh Walker)

“Memorial Verses” writes H.C. Duffin, “is an exquisite miniature of criticism. The person eulogized is Wordsworth, but brilliant thumb-nail estimates of Goethe and Byron are given in order to throw up the central figure by way of contrast, just one element in the genius of each being named, Goethe’s sage mind and Byron’s force. For Wordsworth, Arnold selects four prime qualities his power to bring us into sympathetic touch with nature, his healing power, his power of quickening the feelings, and above-all, his power of making us realize the unimportance of the finite, the all-importance of the infinite:

The cloud of mortal destiny…

….who like him, will put it by

This is, indeed, quite essential Wordsworth, and we see how much better it is for a poet to put what he feels about another poet into a poem than into critical prose. When he dwells emphatically on the power of joy in Wordsworth’s poetry, on his healing power. On the fact that he brings his readers in contact with nature, which has an invigorating and refreshing effect on them, we know he has the root of the matter in him, that he has rightly felt the poetry of Wordsworth, that he has been moved by it in the real sense of the word”.

EXPLANATIONS

1. Goethe in Weimar sleeps, and Greece.

Long since, saw Byron’s struggle cease.

But one such death remain ‘d to come;

The lost poetic voice is dumb….

We stand to-day by Wordsworth’s tomb.

Explanation with Reference to the Context- These lines are taken from the elegy Memorial Verses’ written by Matthew Arnold. The poem was written to mourn the death of Wordsworth. In these lines, Arnold tells us about the death of Goethe and Byron along with that of Wordsworth.

Explanation: Arnold says that the great German poet Goethe sleeps in his grave in Weimar where he spent most of his life. Byron, the famous Romantic poet fought for the independence of Greece. Within two months he died of illness and thus his struggle for the independence of Greece ended. But the death of one great poet like Goethe and Byron was yet to come. And now that great and the last Romantic poet Wordsworth is also dead. The people stand beside Wordsworth’s grave to mourn his death. Thus after Goethe and Byron he was the last great poet and now, he too, is dead. The line ‘the last poetic voice’ shows Arnold’s great admiration for Wordsworth. These opening lines are marked by classical economy and force.

2. When Byron’s eyes were shut in death,

We bow’d our head and held our breath

He taught was little, but our soul

Had felt him like the thunder’s roll.

Explanation With Reference to the Context- These lines are extracted from the poem “Memorial Verses’ written by Matthew Arnold. Here Arnold tells us about the death of Byron.

Byron was an important poet of the Romantic Age. Fighting for the independence of Greece, Byron caught fever and died in 1824. When he died, people bent their heads in order to pay his homage and held their breath. Byron died when he was just thirty six years of age, so he did not teach much to the people. The poet says even though he taught people little, the soul of people felt the fierce passion of Byron’s poetry like the sound of a thunder.

3. With shivering heart the strife we saw

Of passion with eternal law;

And yet with reverential awe

We watch’d the foum of fiery life

Which served for that Titanic strife.

Explanation with Reference to the Context- These lines are taken from the poem “Memorial Verses’ written by Matthew Arnold. Here he tells us about the titanic force of Lord Byron.

Byron fought against slavery and tyranny with courage.. He also opposed the orthodox moral laws of society. So his fiery passion brought him into conflict with the eternal laws of society. He-was a giant in his determination and courage. People saw his struggle with the codes of social morality with trembling heart. So, the titanic force of Byron aroused fear as well as respect in people. These lines indicate the tremendous energy and titanic force of Byron.