. C LONGING-(Poem) ;Theme of love and longing in the poem Longing :- MATTHEW ARNOLD

Come to me in my dreams, and then
 By day I shall be well again! 
For so the night will more than pay 
The hopeless longing of the day.
 Come, as thou cam'st a thousand times, 
A messenger from radiant climes, 
And smile on thy new world, and be 
As kind to others as to me! 
Or, as thou never cam'st in sooth,
 Come now, and let me dream it truth, 
And part my hair, and kiss my brow,
 And say, My love why sufferest thou? 
Come to me in my dreams, and then
 By day I shall be well again! 
For so the night will more than pay 
The hopeless longing of the day.

Matthew Arnold(1822-1888) one of the major poets of the Victorian period, was born in Laleham, in the valley of the Thames, in 1822. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famous headmaster of Rugby School. He was educated at Winchester, Rugby and Balliol College, Oxford, where he was distinguished by winning prizes in poetry and by general excellence in the classics. Arnold started his career as a teacher of classics at Rugby.

 Then in 1847, he became private secretary to Lord Lansdowne. In 1851, he was appointed the Inspector of schools and he served in this position for 35 years. For ten years (1857-1867) he was professor of poetry at oxford, where his famous lectures On Translating Homer were given. Matthew Arnold published his first Volume of poems, The Strayed Reveller and Other Poems in 1849. Some years later he published Empedocles on Etna and Other Poems (1852), Poems (1853), Poem’s Second Series (1855) and Merope (1858).

 His most important poems are Dover Beach, Scholar-Gipsy, Thyrsis, and The Forsaken Merman and these works are well noted for their variety of poetic expression. Another most significant work is Essays in Criticism (two volumes) which made Arnold one of the best known literary men in England.

 Culture and Anarchy which is a prose work, was published in 1869. These works were followed by four books on religious subjects- St. Paul and Protestantism (1870), Literature and Dogma (1873), God and the Bible (1875), and Last Essays on Church and Religion (1877). At the height of his fame and influence he died suddenly, in 1888, and was buried in the churchyard at Laleham.

The poem Longing by the famous Victorian poet Matthew Arnold is a typical love poem. This poem is an expression of the poet’s longing for the presence of his beloved. The poet’s love is very intense and sincere. The poet seems to be much worried about the absence of his beloved during the day. So the poet wants his beloved to come to him in his dreams and he hopes that it will make him happy throughout the day. He really wants to have a great time with his beloved during day time, but she doesn’t come to him. He pleads his beloved to visit him in his dreams so that he can compensate his hopeless longing of the day through his dreams at night.

 The poet wants her to come as she has visited him a thousand times. He considers her as one who comes from a new world which is bright and shining. She brings happiness and relief to the poet’s life. He does not want his beloved to show any hostility as she is new to this world but to smile on her new world. His love is so sincere that he tells her to be as kind to others as to himself. The poet sadly admits the fact that his beloved has never come to him in reality.

 Even then he does not reject her love. He believes that what he sees in his dreams are real. He pleads his beloved to come to him in his dreams and delight him by parting his hair and kissing his brow and wants her to say there is no need to suffer any more as she is with him always. The poet once again asks his beloved to visit him in his dreams and to make his day happy. This poem is a true expression of the poet’s love and longing for his beloved