Author: Matthew Arnold

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    Far on its rocky knoll descried
    Saint Michaels chapel cuts the sky.
    I climbd; beneath me, bright and wide,
    Lay the lone coast of Brittany.

    Bright in the sunset, weird and still,
    It lay beside the Atlantic wave,
    As if the wizard Merlins will
    Yet charmd it from his forest grave.

    Behind me on their grassy sweep,
    Bearded with lichen, scrawld and grey,
    The giant stones of Carnac sleep,
    In the mild evening of the May.

    No priestly stern procession now
    Streams through their rows of pillars old;
    No victims bleed, no Druids bow;
    Sheep make the furze-grown aisles their fold.

    From bush to bush the cuckoo flies,
    The orchis red gleams everywhere;
    Gold broom with furze in blossom vies,
    The blue-bells perfume all the air.

    And oer the glistening, lonely land,
    Rise up, all round, the Christian spires.
    The church of Carnac, by the strand,
    Catches the westering suns last fires.

    And there across the watery way,
    See, low above the tide at flood,
    The sickle-sweep of Quiberon bay
    Whose beach once ran with loyal blood!

    And beyond that, the Atlantic wide!
    All round, no soul, no boat, no hail!
    But, on the horizons verge descried,
    Hangs, touchd with light, one snowy sail!

    Ah, where is he, who should have come
    Where that far sail is passing now,
    Past the Loires mouth, and by the foam
    Of Finistres unquiet brow,

    Home, round into the English wave?
    He tarries where the Rock of Spain
    Mediterranean waters lave;
    He enters not the Atlantic main.

    Oh, could he once have reachd this air
    Freshend by plunging tides, by showers!
    Have felt this breath he loved, of fair
    Cool northern fields, and grass, and flowers!

    He longd for it, pressd on! In vain.
    At the Straits faild that spirit brave.
    The South was parent of his pain,
    The South is mistress of his grave.

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Type of Poem: Elegy

Date Written:

Date Published:

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Publisher:

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: This evocative poem masterfully combines elements of natural, historical, and personal significance, inviting readers into a vivid, emotional landscape. The primary themes appear to be the passage of time, the power of place, and the melancholy of unfulfilled longing. A sense of desolation and memory is palpable, conjuring images of a deserted, ancient coastline that bears the silent, spectral residues of its past— from the Druids to the Christian spires.

The poet's use of specific details, like the "lichen, scrawld and grey" on the "giant stones of Carnac," the "red gleam" of wild orchids, and the "blue-bells perfume," enrich the sensory experience and immersion into the scene. The poem also ingeniously incorporates an element of mystery and anticipation, culminating in the revelation of a missing figure whose absence infuses the poem with a yearning, mournful tone. The final lines suggest a tragic narrative, the details of which are left to the reader's imagination, adding a layer of introspective depth to the poem. The structure and rhythm provide a steady, lulling cadence that echoes the ebb and flow of the ocean, which serves as a powerful symbol of both the immense, unchanging continuity of nature and the insurmountable distances that separate us.