Search -
A Gift Imprisoned: The Poetic Life of Matthew Arnold
A Gift Imprisoned The Poetic Life of Matthew Arnold Author:Ian Hamilton From acclaimed biographer Ian Hamilton, an examination of Victorian repression, the depth of Arnold's poetic gift, and the reasons for its strangulation A Gift Imprisoned is a tale of the two lives of Matthew Arnold: the young and impassioned lyric poet, and, in his maturity, his poetic ambitions long-since quelled, Victorian England's best-kno... more »wn social prophet, educational reformer, and literary critic. Hamilton explores the reasons why Arnold, after a brilliant beginning, abandoned his poetic career; why he, as W.H. Auden wrote, "thrust his gift in prison till it died." These questions lead Ian Hamilton through beautifully reasoned considerations on the nature of creativity and its silencing. The result is a masterwork of the biographer's art.« less