This is one of the first poem that the class discussed early in the semester. Most of the class said that the speaker in the poem was reflecting on his past and how he use to look at the world. The speaker also looks at his present life and how he interacts with the nature. Then he looks at the future and how other people will interact with nature especially his little sister.
This is a dramatic monologue poem that speaker is talking to someone at a time of leisure. As a class we came to the conclusion that the speaker was searching for the meaning of life. Just like everyone else in the world Arnold wants to know that there is more life than just surviving. He feels like something is missing and wants to find that something. We also said that modernism and how Arnold believes in this kind of belief that Christianity was dead but religion is the biggest aspect in the world. We also discussed that nothing in the world is matter except for what you can hold on to right now. Some students stated that Arnold is pessimistic. I definitely think so.
