Culture and Anarchy: Ch 1, Sweetness and Light.
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888). Sweetness and Light. Warner, et al., comp. 1917. The Library of the World's Best Literature.Arnold finds sincere and genuine connection between culture and the idea of sweetness and light. His ideal man of culture is a Greek man called Euphuasis. Arnold borrowed the phrase 'sweetness and light' from Swift. The character of a man of culture is moulded by religion and poetry.Among the major Victorian writers, Matthew Arnold is unique in that his reputation rests equally upon his poetry and his poetry criticism. Only a quarter of his productive life was given to writing poetry, but many of the same values, attitudes, and feelings that are expressed in his poems achieve a fuller or more balanced formulation in his prose.
In 1704 Jonathan Swift wrote of beauty and intelligence as ''the two noblest of things, sweetness and light.'' In 1869, Matthew Arnold made Swift's latter phrase a touchstone of Victorian.Answer: In 1704 Jonathan Swift wrote of beauty and intelligence as ''the two noblest of things, sweetness and light.'' In 1869, Matthew Arnold made Swift's latter phrase a touchstone of Victorian sensibility as the title of the first chapter of his ''Culture and Anarchy.''.
Matthew Arnold was an English poet, sage writer and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator.
