Radical Reconstruction of Three Arnold Poems: ‘The New Sirens,’ ‘Resignation,’ and ‘Dover Beach’

Abstract

Claims that although Arnold does not rank with Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Hardy, he is an important Victorian poet for two reasons: first, he believes poetry can be an adequate guide for living, and second, he writes poems to demonstrate to others what truly modern poetry ought to be. Because Arnold found that the Romantics had abandoned classical ideas and principles, he felt he must demonstrate in his poetry how the Romantic predisposition for self-expression could be joined to the classical focus on action. Reads three poems as examples of ways Arnold attempted to link the classical and Romantic ideals to create poems that would appeal to modern readers.