The Study of Poetry
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1880
- Form
- Essay
- Language
- English
- Length
- Short · 30 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendCulture and Anarchy and Other Selected ProsePenguin Classics, 2015Prints The Study of Poetry with Arnold's other major critical essays.
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Arnold's introduction to T. H. Ward's anthology The English Poets, later placed in Essays in Criticism, Second Series. He predicts that poetry will take over the consoling and sustaining role of religion, and proposes that readers judge poems by keeping in mind touchstone lines from the great masters. He then reviews English poetry from Chaucer to Burns, ranking Chaucer below the classics for lack of high seriousness and setting Dryden and Pope down as classics of prose.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Study of Poetry are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.