‘If it were not for all these blessed revolutions, I should sink into hopeless lethargy’: Clough, Arnold, and Political Poetry

Abstract

The mid-­‐nineteenth-­‐century European revolutions (1848-­‐51) are often overlooked or forgotten altogether in revolutionary histories; and yet the French and Italian revolutions (1848 and 1849 respectively) were key events in the lives of a number of writers, including Arthur Hugh Clough and Matthew Arnold.

Focussing on the French revolution, and to a lesser extent the Italian revolution, I aim to show the similarities and differences between the responses of Clough and Arnold. Clough, in particular, was fascinated by the 1848 revolution in France and his poetic career was bound to the wider revolutionary movement in Europe between 1848-­‐51. Following Louis Napoleon’s coup d’état in 1851, Clough’s political and poetical involvement diminished considerably. For Arnold, the turmoil in France encouraged him to reflect on the role of the poet and his own role within the wider world. At first curious about the revolutions, he quickly turned against them and sought an escape through poetry, whilst also criticising Clough. However, through his relationship with Clough, Arnold continued to think and write about the revolutions, which he found troubling.