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INTRODUCTION
The poem was written adoring the poet's own father Dr. Thomas Arnold, the famous headmaster who made the Rugby School, the most respected one, even above Eton and' Westminster, during his headmastership. Dr. Arnold died in 1842, and was buried inside the Chapel of the Rugby School. But the poem was published only in 1867. There are some evidence to show that Arnold began the poem in 1857.
History of the Poem: Dr. Arnold made a name for himself and the school as the headmaster of Rugby. During his headmastership Rugby reached an eminence above Eton, Harrow and. Westminster, and he was considered a great educationist and social reformer. But after his death his reputation sank. In 1857, a former pupil of the School wrote the even now famous novel Tom Brown's Schooldays idolizing the great headmaster. The book was renewed in the Edinburgh Review wherein the reviewer Fitzjames Stephen ran down Dr. Arnold, describing him as a prig without any sense of humour who even went to the extremes in his earnest for training at the School. Arnold considered the criticism uncomplimentary and tried to vindicate his father through the Rugby Chapel. In a letter to his mother he wrote, "I knew dearest mother, that the Rugby Chapel poem would give you pleasure; often and often it had been in my mind to say it to you. It was Fitzjames Stephen's thesis, maintained in the Edinburgh Review, of papa's being a narrow bustling fanatic which moved me first to the poem. think I have done something to fix the true legend about papa..." But there is some discrepancy. The review appeared in January 1858; Arnold dated his poem in November 1857. Probably he started the poem in 1857 and left it. Later on reading the review he might have gone back to the poem. Even if it is an 1857 poem one wonders why Arnold wanted 15 years to commemorate his dead father.
A tribute by the son to the father, Rugby Chapel, is to be considered the belated tribute of a famous son to his famous father. But it is strange that the poem does not contain any thrill of personal emotion. It is like any other Arnoldian poem, some melancholy brooding, some generalization, some moralizing. There is plenty of the man in it, but there could have been more, possibly the man as seen from the son's affectionate view. The feeling for the father is rather subdued. However, there is plenty of feelings in the poem concerning human life as a whole. The subdued filial feeling and a sincere concern for the life of the fellow men give the poem a solemn sincerity rarely seen in poems written under similar circumstances. In 1855, Arnold wrote to his mother: "he was not only a good man saving his own soul by righteousness, but that he carried so many others with him and saved them, if they would let him, along with himself". The poem remains an elaboration of the idea mentioned above.
LINE BY LINE SUMMARY
Line. 1-13: It is an autumn evening and the leaves fall down sadly. The elm-trees in the school field are visible only faintly as the evening grows darker. Those few boys who are playing in the field are silent. Lights appear in the street and in the school room windows. Through the gathering darkness can be seen the chapel buildings inside which you, my father, lie buried.
Line. 14-25: Father lies there amidst the gloom of the autumn evening. The world gloom brings back to the mind the brightness of the vigorous nature of the father. In the gloom of many November nights the family had spent bright times in the father's company. He was such a person whose bright and cheerful nature could not be lessened by the season. The poet remains in the autumn evening and reminisces the earlier autumns he had spent in the company of the father.
Line. 26-36: Fifteen years are passed after his father's death, which happened suddenly in a summer morning. The children, who enjoyed the protection of the father as if they were under the shadow of a mighty Oak tree, have now spent fifteen years facing life and its problems without the father's guidance.
Line. 37-43: The poet wonders where the strong soul of his father is wandering at the present. He is sure that force would not be wasted. Some where in this work house, this universe, the strength of his father, possibly, is being made use of.
Line. 44-57: Surely, his spirit, conscious of his worldly life or otherwise, will be performing his duty, promptly and without getting tired. Still he will be encouraging the good to thrive and suppressing the evil. Those who live on the border between good and evil, not fully conscious of their duty are revived and rejuvenated by his messages. For this kind of work he used to do while he was alive.
Line. 58-72: Most men on earth live a meaningless life. They move around, eat, drink and talk. They love, they hate, they gather wealth and then they spend it. They struggle without a purpose and achieve nothing. In the end they die but afterwards nobody considers them more permanent than the waves that swelled for a moment and then disappear.
Line. 73-116: But some men are there who have lasting desire to know (the Truth), and with an ardent fire in then. They do not like the purposeless movement, putting in vain and meaningless effort. Surely some people like the poet, do not like to die without doing something substantial. After the physical death the good things they have done will be remembered. They have followed the path of righteousness relentlessly. Their path was not strewn with roses, but was uphill and full of thorns. While their companions slept they had been toiling hard. They had a clear goal to give them direction in their journey. They had to climb snow-clad mountains and cheerfully they started. As they reached higher, difficulties arose. Storm, thunder and lightning bewildered them. Fierce flowing torrents breached the track on which people used to tread. It was havoc for the party Many faltered and were lost in the storm. Only a few were left. With determination they struggled ahead and by nightfall they reached their goal, an inn, The innkeeper (host) beams a light to identify them and asks who are the ones coming in and who are the ones lost in the snow.
Line. 117-123: They sadly say that they have lost all their friends in the storm. They only bring themselves. The storm has swept away their friends, companions and others in the party.
Line. 124-134 But the poet's father would not have saved himself, reaching the goal alone, leaving the rest in the storm. The poet and others would feel tired of the difficulties and frightened of the dangers in life (on the way) and would have Jonged for death. But his father, still would have encouraged those who were afraid, giving a helping hand to the tired.
Line. 135-145 The poet's father would have been different. Even if stones on the way had wounded his feet and struggles and disappointments challenged his spirit he would have been cheerful and helpful to others. So he was destined to save the soul of many others. As a faithful shepherd he would come in bringing the disciples (sheep) home, safely.
Line. 145-161: Having seen the life of his father, the poet is ready to believe that noble people existed in the bygone ages. Earlier he thought that stories about pure-souled people were only myths. The present day shows men are without culture and they bluster and cringe. They are horrible, dreary and vileous. They are a contrast against the heroic people of virile nature, the really good ones.
Line. 162-170 The poet calls the noble people like his father, servants of God. But it is better to call them Sons of God for his father's relation with God the Father was not one of a servant. He knew the will of God and that God does not like any of his little children to be lost. If mankind has not already fainted and fallen dead, the credit should go to his father and people like him.
Line. 171-187: The poet pictures mankind as an army, marching across the rocks (difficulties) of the world, weakly, in a wavy line. They are proceeding to their goal, according to the plan of God. The path they have to tread is long and they have been marching for years. They feel terribly thirst and the surrounding rocks frighten them. In-fighting separates them into groups; the army appears to break up and vanish. But they have to remain united; or all of them will go astray and none of the group will survive; they will struggle uselessly among the rocks and fall dead, one by one in the wilderness.
Line. 188-208: During such a need of mankind to remain united, to the weak and dejected people the poet's father would appear as a saving angel, as a beacon of hope. Then there will no longer be any fatigue in their heart, weakness in the will and tiredness in the body. The moment he comes to the forefront, his voice is heard, and fear and despair will vanish from among them. As he moves among the line of the marchers, recalling the waywordly, refreshing the weary, and praising the brave, courage and order returns to the army. With flashing hope in their eyes and prayers in their lips they will follow his steps. He will find out the missing people, strengthen the ranks and make the army march to the boundary of the wasteland, to the kingdom of God.
CRITICAL APPRECIATION AND ANALYSIS
The poem Rugby Chapel written to commemorate the contribution of Thomas Arnold to mankind, is one of the most well known elegies of Matthew Arnold. The son considers the father an embodiment of purity, nobility, and moral earnestness. There may not be present in the poem the warmth and compelling filial. feeling. Then it is an intellectual poem and there is found the poet's concern for the whole of mankind abundantly. He pays glowing tribute to the father not for bringing up Matthew Arnold and his brothers and sisters affectionately, but for caring for all mankind. True, there are references like;
In the gloom of November we pass'd
Days not of gloom at thy side;
.....................and I stand
In the autumn evening, and thinky
Of bygone autumn with thee.
However it is perhaps the only one of such personal reference and the filial emotion is hidden under a studied understatement. Comparison of the headmaster-father to an Oak under whom they grew up.
We who till then in thy shade
Rested as under the boughs
Of a mighty oak, have endured
Sunshine and rain as we might
Bare, unshaded, alone
Lacking the shelter of thee
Also could be considered as very personal, but there We can as well be any of the followers of the great headmaser-Stanley or Clough or Cotton or even Thomas Hughes the author of Tom Brown's Schooldays.
Written after 15 years of the death of the father, the poem is truly emotion recollected in tranquillity. The school chapel in which the most famous of the nineteenth century headmaster was buried reminds the son of the greatness of the man. It is interesting to note that there is no serious mourning of the father in the poem. But the poet cries at the feebleness, the dejection and the purposelessness of his contemporaries. When mankind is marching without a purpose, troubled and frightened by the difficulties and dangers of life, his father appears like a saving angel. He gives courage to wavering ones by giving his helping hand. The son speaks of the father's selflessness illustrated by his desire to save the souls of others. That quality is made clear when he says;
But thou woulds't not alone
Be saved, my father! alone.
He would rather
...at the end of thy day,
O faithful shepherd! to come,
Bringing thy sheep in thy hand.
This is far from the religious fanaticism of which Fitzjames Stephen, the Edinburgh Review columnist disparaged the headmaster. It is pure humanitarianism of a noble mind which is pictured in the poem. True, the headmaster showed the humanitarianism with a religious zeal, a Christian zeal.
There is obvious didacticism in the Rugby Chapel. The poem is more of a statement of the poet's philosophy of life than an elegy. The author declares that purity of soul and nobility does not depend on saving one's own soul, but on saving other people's souls along with one's own. Viewed this way the senior Arnold was a pure soul and of a noble heart. The poet tries to tell that noble ideas and high ideals will make life meaningful. But the majority of the people in the world live without ideals. Then there are some idealists like the poet and his friends who:
Come to the end of our way,
To the lonely inn 'mid the rocks;
The innkeeper (God) asks them, whom else they have brought.
The answer is;
Sadly we answer: We bring
Only ourselves;
However, there were people like Thomas Arnold who cared for others as much as they cared for themselves. And the son has only praise for the father over this
Yours is the praise, if mankind
Hath not as yet in its march
Fainted, and fallen, and died;
Perhaps this is too much of a praise, justly to be reserved for people like Budha or Jesus or Confucius.
More than an elegy this poem contains humane ideas arising from deep meditation. We can as well say there is criticism of life in it, criticism of a very serious nature. Among his contemporaries, he finds langour in the heart, weakness in the work, and weariness on the brow. They can disappear when a noble spirit like Thomas Arnold is around. Certainly the betterment of the whole mankind is what the poet aims at.
The Scenic Description in the Beginning of the Poem: The word-pioture of the Rugby field and the chapel is quite touching for it sets and elegiac mood very effectively. The poem begins,
Coldly, sadly descends
The autumn evening.
Autumn is the season bringing in death and decay. Coldly and sadly are usually associated with death. The withered leaves and elms fading into dimness surely brings to mind the death and the resulting disappearance of a human being. The silence of the few boys in the field adds a solemnity to the scene. Then slowly Iights appear, first in the street, and then in the schoolrooms which can be seen through the windows. Then,
Through the gathering darkness, arise
The Chapel walls.
The architecture of the big churches and Chapels are designed to make the eye go upwards, perhaps heavenwards towards God. The poet's mentioning 'arise the chapel walls' makes the mind go heavenwards. Once the poet suggests the heavenward movement of the mind, he bangs as if banging a gong the words.
.... in whose bound
Thou, my father! art laid.
"Father art laid" are the last three bangs.
The Style: Restraint is the key quality of style in this poem. There is clarity born out of simplicity in its thought, and lucidity in diction. The intense sincerity of the poems perhaps is hidden in check by the author's classical leanings. However, it is not plain or bland poetry. There are figures of speech embellishing it here and there. The 'gloom' is suggestive of the restlessness and the resulting melancholy, which many thinking men of Arnold's time felt. However, when the father was alive, they had passed days, not of gloom. It suggestively brings forth the radiant nature of the senior man which is praised later overtly. Arnold's death is mentioned describing his 'reading 'the road of death. Then comes the metaphor where the father is considered an Oak in the shade of which the children lived. The mighty Oak is suggestive of the larger than life-image of the headmaster. The deadman's soul is said to be tarrying the shores of the unknown regions. This again is a metaphor suiting the matter discussed. The image of the father,
...upraisest with zeal
The humble good from the ground,
Sternly repressest the bad.
Too is very appropriate. The transient nature of man's life in this world is brought out through another elegant metaphor of the waves in the ocean.
...have swell'd,
Foam'd for a moment, and gone
To The problems and difficulties of life are brought out, in a manner that reminds one of the journey of Christian in the Pilgrim's Progress
... the spray
Boils over its boarders, aloft,
The unseen snow-beds dislodge
Their hanging ruin,
And the 'long steep journey' becomes more and more hazardous. The lonely inn-keeper standing at the threshold again is a metaphor for God. The question that he asks and the reply the poet gives show clearly that God expects his beloved ones to save the souls not only of they themselves but of others too.
Arnold's Belief in Christianity: Arnold's agnostic leaning is more or less obvious in many of his poems and prose writings. Prime Minister Gladstone once wondered how a poet like Matthew Arnold was to be considered a Christian. However in Rugby Chapel the poet betrays his belief in some aspects of Christianity though not in the formal way. He appears to believe in the transcendental nature of the human soul. The poet apostrophizes the 'soul' of his father and asks
O strong soul, by what shore
Tarricst thou now?
And asserts that its strength is practiced 'somewhere surely afar'. This is almost, if not fully, the Christian belief in the soul's immortality either in heaven or in the purgatory. His father's spirit is with God, Arnold feels:
Yes in some far-shining sphere,
Conscious or not of the past,
Still thou performest the word
Of the Spirit in whom thou dost live,
The far shining sphere is the heaven according to the Christian tradition. And the, 'Spirit in whom' his father's soul, lives is God. It is clearly a Christian conception. However, in telling that the dead man's spirit is 'conscious or not', Arnold appears to deviate from the belief of most Christian sects. They believe that the soul after death is conscious of the past worldly life: But Arnold is leaving that point uncertain-may be or may not be. In the end of the poem too, Arnold appears to write with firm belief in the Christian concept of God. The senior Arnold's relation with God is more like that of a son than a servant's. And the God is concerned over 'one of his little ones lost'.
In his comparison of noble and pure people to angels who appear radiant with ardour divine' is another instance of the poet's bringing in the Christian belief about angels. The final line of the poem 'On, to the City of God' is surely an echo of the Christian hope of living in heaven after death. Finally the noblest ideal a man can pursue, according to Arnold is to become
Helpers and friends of mankind.
Surely this is the true Christian concept 'Love thy neighbour as thyself' put in another. form. Arnold appears to become a half-believer when he talks about his father and becomes an agnostic when he philosophises. Probably his earlier bringing up under the Oak' of a father kept indelible impressions of Christian belief in him and they were relegated to the subconscious, later, by the rational influence of the 'rigorous teachers' he mentions in the Grande Chartreuse poem. Occasionally, as when his father's memory comes up, the old impressions come up to the conscious mind.
LINE BY LINE EXPLANATIONS
That word ..... clear Line. 16-22
The Rugby Chapel begins with the description of an autumn evening when the withered leaves, the elms and the darkening atmosphere, suggest gloom. Then the poet contrasts the gloom with 'radiant vigour' of the father.
The word gloom reminds the poet of the bright and radiant influence his father had on the children even in the midst of gloomy November days. The autumn season was not able to lessen the brightness of the senior Arnold's clear cheerfulness.
November is a month well passed into autumn, nearing winter. Days are gloomy and evenings are dark in England. But even then the radiance of the father kept the family having a happy time. Certainly one finds a sincerity of emotion in the passage. Though Arnold expresses his feelings with the classical restraint the filial regard for the dead father is unmistakable here.
O strong soul ..... beneficient, firm Line. 37-43
In these lines, Arnold expresses the belief that the strong soul of his father is immortal.
The poet wonders where the soul of the father remains, after his death. So forceful a force as that of his father cannot have simply vanished. Somewhere afar in this universe his father must be putting to use, his strength, with zeal, firmly and for the wider benefit of the universe.
While paying a glowing tribute to his father Arnold displays a kind of belief in the Christian concept of the immortality of the soul. He may not be agreeing with the Christian concept completely. But thinking that the soul of his father exists somewhere 'afar betrays a belief in the Christian heaven where the soul of the best people, after death, would go. But one has to agree that other religions too believe in the immortality of the soul. However, it is interesting and a little strange to see the almost agnostic Arnold trying to bring in the myths of Christianity and other religions when he talks of his father and his achievements.
Still thou ..... upon earth. Line. 49-57
Arnold, in these lines, expresses his belief that his father's soul may be continuing to do the good work he had been doing, now in the far away land where the soul may be existing.
Even now he should be helping the good to thrive and destroying evil. Even now he should be awakening the half sleepy people who remain neither virtuous or vicious, inviting them to the right path, with his clear trumpet call. Thereby he will be giving the needy assistance to them making rejuvenated. The same kind of work he had been doing in his life too. This is one of the passages in the poem where Arnold betrays his belief in the immortality of the soul, which is that of Christianity. Other religions too believe in the immortality of the soul and the belief displayed could be a combination of the religious belief and rational thinking. However, the mixture does not appear to be a homogeneous one. At some places he appears to be a believer and at other places, he remains the usual rational near-agnostic.
Most men ..... and gone. Line. 60-72
Here Arnold describes the Plebeian way in which most people in the world live. He uses two images: one of a violent storm and the other of the sea. Both signify the course of human life.
Most men move about as if they are caught in a whirlwind. They eat, drink, converse, love, hate, make money, and spend it the routine way. They are lifted violently up and then tossed down into the dust. They struggle blindly and end up achieving nothing. They are destroyed. No one who has watched them thinks that they have achieved any permanent gain. Their performance in the worldly life has been as transitory as a wave in the lonely and moonlit sea that swells up for a moment and then disappears.
The metaphor of storm that is suggested by the words 'eddy', 'raised aloft' and 'hurl'd', stands for the upheavals of life possibly resulting from excessive passion hurl'd in the dust' suggests the Christian burial during which a priest takes a handful of dust throws it on the dead body and tells Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return'. In the other image, the simile, the common man's life is compared to a wave in the sea, that swells for a moment and then is gone. It very picturesquely and effectively highlights the transcience of human life. Once the life of a plebeian comes to an end nothing remains in the world to tell of his past existence. The comparison drives home the point very efficiently.
And there ..... and vain. Line. 73-78
After describing the meaningless life of the plebeians, the ordinary base people, Arnold describes a second group, (to which he belongs) who do have a purpose in their life. There are some people who have an unquenchable thirst (for Truth) and with a fiery aspiration to achieve something in life. They do not belong to the crowd, and they do not lead a life aimlessly going round and round.
The poem pictures three kind of people. The first are the plebeians who lead a meaningless life to send by the storms of life. The second set to which Arnold belongs, do have a purpose of life, but they care not for the others around them. To the third set, belongs Dr. Arnold, the poet's father. People like him not only lead a meaningful life but also help others lead an upright life.
By picturing himself and the people like him below the level of his father the poet is trying to magnify the stature of his father.
Then, on the ..... his footstep. Line. 90-97
Here Arnold pictures the life of human beings as a journey through a difficult terrain, almost in the manner of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. The journey is long and the path steep, going up through snowy mountains. They. start cheerfully but half-way they come across with difficulties.
Once they reach the heights they are caught in a storm. Thunder crashes ominously, and water falls thunderously. The lightning confounds them. Violent flow of water erodes away the path through which people used to walk earlier. Water sprays furiously from the torrents. From high above the mountain's, beds of snow get dislodged and fall down threatening the life of the travellers. The travellers come across with large-scale harm. Friends who started the journey with them grew weak and they are lost in the storm.
The allegory of the journey and the dangers they face reminds the life during the Victorian age and the spiritual, religious and sociological upheavals that disturbed the people. The exact allusions to various historical events may not be traceable. But surely, the storm is the upheaval in society caused by progress of science and technology. Thunder crashing from rock to rock and cataracts replying could be the destruction science caused to all the religious sects. The cataracts' reply could be the defence religious minded people put up. The torrents that washed away the paths, again could be science destroying religion that of fered a path to salvation. The spray boiling over the borders probably are the revolutionary ideas coming from surrounding countries. On the whole, certainly, it signifies the conflict of several new intellectual ideas old and new that caused tempestuous upheavais in all spheres of society.
Where the gaunt ..... in the snow? Line. 110-116
Here Arnold describes the end of the perilous journey, of people like the poet make. After facing tempests ard other dangers a few, only a few, reach their destination, an inn, which probably is heaven, or the world after death.
The keeper of the inn is a grim figure who talks very little at the door of the inn. The storm is still raging and moves the white hair of the inn-keeper. He holds the light to see the storm-torn travellers and asks two questions: 'who (else) do you bring here' 'who are the ones you left in the storm?'
The allegory of the journey of life is significant here too. The journey's end, the inn, is heaven, where blessed people live after death. The gaunt and taciturn inn-keeper should be God. God, definitely the Christian god, is generally imagined to be a grave figure who does not communicate very much. The two questions he asks are significant 'who are you bringing in and 'who are the ones lost on the way'. Living for others, or loving the neighbour as oneself, is a true Christian principle. A selfish life, of saving one's own life is not noble enough and not Christian enough. The concern of the inn-keeper for those who have fallen in the storm is the concern of God for the lost ones. Another noteworthy thing in the first question is the suggestion that only those who save others are qualified to be in heaven.
Arnold, remained a near agnostic from his youth onwards. However, the Christian belief in God heaven etc. are referred to so much in the poem that one has to think that he had some of his childhood beliefs remaining in his sub-conscious. Occasionally the influence of the subconscious, appears in passages like the present one.
If in the paths ..... firm. Line. 134-139
Here Arnold apostrophizes his father, who is dead, and gone. The poet feels that his father would have been different from those self-centred people who are concerned with their own life. Then he describes how the senior Arnold would have faced the difficulties in his wordly journey.
During his journey through perilous paths, Dr. Arnold also could have met with difficulties and faced moods in which dejection challenged his cheerful spirits. But none of his followers noticed any of it. He appeared to others the cheerful, firm and helpful person he always was. Because of his helpful disposition, it became possible for him to save the lives of many others, along with his own. As a result, at the end of the journey, Dr. Arnold the faithful Shepherd was able to bring many sheep along with him, to the inn. Arnold in this passage very clearly points out that his father was a noble soul who was concerned with the life of others. So he is different from the plebeians, and the other set who cared only for themselves. The life of Dr. Arnold as the headmaster is alluded, through the words, Shepherd. He was faithful Shepherd for he was as a headmaster who served God, faithfully, by saving the life of others. (The pulils of Rugby). The sheep, obviously is a reference to the Rugbians.
And through ..... and vine. Line. 145-158
In this passage, Arnold pictures his father as a noble soul, very much different from the contemporary Victorians. The poet says, that having seen the noble life of his father, he could easily believe that noble people had existed in the past. Mankind as he had known was such a poor and miserable lot that it was not possible to believe that a nobleman could have existed in this world. Now that he has known the noble life of his father, he can believe that really noble men existed in this world; noble in the sense that they are different from those of the crowd, those pompous and obsequious ones who live a miserable, dreary and often evil life.
Perhaps Arnold goes too far, here, where he exalts his fathers nobility. Do we have to believe that Arnold didn't believe in the existence of people like Socrates in this world? What about Sophocles whom he admires a lot, else where? also Goethe, Senancour and Wordsworth? Did he honestly consider them lower in status than Dr. Arnold?
Possibly in paying a glowing tribute to his father he thought only of the role of Dr. Arnold as a headmaster, and in that role he thought of him as unequalled. If so, what about Socrates, perhaps the greatest of the teachers?
Not as servants ..... and died. Line. 164-170
Describing Dr. Arnold and similar people as noble souls, the poet qualifies them as servants of God or better sons of God. Then he explains why the name sons of God will suit them more.
The noble people's relationship with God was not one between a servant and a master. They knew the will of God very clearly. (No servant is likely to know the intentions of the masterfully). So they may better be considered sons of God. God does not wish to see even the least harm happening to any of his creatures. The really great people are those who learn this desire of God and work to save other human beings from possible danger. If mankind has not felt weak, fallen down and died, the honour for it should go to Dr. Arnold and such people. Some people think that mankind continues to exist only because of the existence of a few good people in the world. Solzkenictsin, the Russian Nobel laureate is one who believes so, in modern times. However, this is a belief the core of which is religious. Here too Arnold, the otherwise agnostic, betrays his occasional sallies into religion.
In the rocks ..... in the waste. Line. 171-187
Arnold allegorically describes the difficulties that man faces in the contemporary life. Then he says that only the presence of a person like Dr. Arnold only could save mankind in such a situation.
Facing the difficulties of life, mankind is moving like an army, that is weak and undetermined. They are marching forward, as willed by God. But they have no clear idea of the goal. The journey is so long and they had been on the path for many years. Thirst trouble them but all around there are only frightening rocks. Factional fights arise among them. The army seems to disintegrate and disappear. To keep them united is the need of the time; otherwise all will go astray and not even one will survive. They will wander forever among the rocks and one by one all will die in the wilderness. The allegory of an army marching on the orders of a commander (God) runs through the whole passage and beyond. Unless the men know the goal, (the will of God) towards which they, march, the journey will be futile. Further they must be united during their journey. Otherwise they are likely to go astray. The thirsty' in line 178 could be the thirst of knowledge. There is an allusion here to Israelites who marched through the rocky desert where water was scarce. They, according to the Bile, the leader Aaron, at the command of God, struck the rock with his rod and water flowed out aplenty and the people were satisfied. This allusion suggestively mentions that a leader like Moses or Aaron is needed to lead the Victorian people. The corollary is that Dr. Arnold is of the stature of Moses or Aaron who led the Israelites to the promised land.
Ye move ..... City of God. Line. 198-208
After giving an allegorical picture of an army marching through the desert, thirsty, demoralised and fighting among themselves, Arnold says how a noble leader like his father could save them from destruction.
When his father moves in, there is a change in the morale of the army. He calls back those who have strayed from the lines, refreshes the tired ones, and encourages the brave people. Consequently order comes back to the army and they become courageous. With happiness in the eyes, and prayers on their lips, they follow his footsteps. He replenishes the vacant places in the line and the strengthened army, march forward to the boundary of the wasteland to the City of God.
Arnold by suggestion and allusion gives Dr Arnold the status of a Moses or an Aaron who led the Israelites from Egypt to the land of Canaan. The parallel between the Victorian life facing the contemporary problems and that of the Israelites marching through the desert is quite a meaningful one. But the reader is likely to question the appropriateness of equating Dr. Arnold with Moses. Perhaps the poet in his blind filial feelings for his headmaster-father, thought that the contribution of Rugby and its head, as something equal to that of Moses.