Matthew Arnold- "The study of Poetry"

Matthew Arnold takes a very interesting approach to the study of poetry in the way that he realtes it to religion, or rather makes it into a religion. Arnold also believes that poetry is a "world of illusion, of divine illusion." This notion is very poetic and really hit me as believable. Peotry is a divine world in itself because of its beauty and also because there is so much life wrapped up in poetry.

Poetry is ideas, love, experience...poetry is every component of life. I enjoyed Arnold's metaphor- poetry as a stream. Poetry is constantly moving and ever changing. Each stream is a new experience, but Arnold thinks that no matter which stream we choose to follow, our thought(s) on poetry should stay the same. We should think of it "worthily, and more highly than it has been the custom to conceive of it."

Some of Arnold's ideas seem a bit extreme, but I cannot help but attempt to take in everything he says. For example, in his discussion of philosophy, science, etc. he implies that soon they will not mean anything and that what they have to say is false without poetry. Also, "the more we perceive their hollowness, the more we shall prize 'the breath and finer spirit of knowledge' offered to us by poetry."

I then came across this idea of "Charlatanism", which I had no idea what it was. So, searching online i came across the definition from thefreedictionary.com. According to that site, it is "a person who makes elaborate, fraudulent, and often voluble claims to skill or knowledge; a quack or fraud." It is said that in poetry charlatanism has no entrance. I am still pondering this idea.

Poetry is thought and art, combined- working together.