The Study of Poetry

by

Matthew Arnold

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Dante Alighieri Character Analysis

Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) was an Italian poet and the author of The Divine Comedy, a narrative poem that is considered the greatest poetic work in the Italian language. According to Matthew Arnold, Dante’s work was “the first literature of modern Europe to strike the true and grand note” and is a paradigmatic example of Arnold’s concept of high seriousness. What distinguishes Dante’s work from that of lesser poets, in Arnold’s view, is its capacity to give readers consolation and matter for contemplation in life’s difficult moments.

Dante Alighieri Quotes in The Study of Poetry

The The Study of Poetry quotes below are all either spoken by Dante Alighieri or refer to Dante Alighieri . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Poetry and the Human Spirit Theme Icon
).
 The Study of Poetry Quotes

Only one thing we may add to the substance and matter of poetry, guiding ourselves by Aristotle’s profound observation that the superiority of poetry over history consists in its possessing a higher truth and a higher seriousness… Let us add, therefore, to what we have said, this: that the substance and matter of the best poetry acquire their special character from possessing, in an eminent degree, truth and seriousness.

Related Characters: Matthew Arnold (speaker), Homer, Dante Alighieri , William Shakespeare , John Milton
Page Number: 337
Explanation and Analysis:
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Dante Alighieri Quotes in The Study of Poetry

The The Study of Poetry quotes below are all either spoken by Dante Alighieri or refer to Dante Alighieri . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Poetry and the Human Spirit Theme Icon
).
 The Study of Poetry Quotes

Only one thing we may add to the substance and matter of poetry, guiding ourselves by Aristotle’s profound observation that the superiority of poetry over history consists in its possessing a higher truth and a higher seriousness… Let us add, therefore, to what we have said, this: that the substance and matter of the best poetry acquire their special character from possessing, in an eminent degree, truth and seriousness.

Related Characters: Matthew Arnold (speaker), Homer, Dante Alighieri , William Shakespeare , John Milton
Page Number: 337
Explanation and Analysis: