Matthew Arnold -- was he a powerful and poetic spokesman, sensitive to the first troubled stirrings of a new society, or was he a weak versifier and a self-contradictory critic with his face turned to the past? David DeLaura provides in this new volume a collection of modern critical commentary which establishes Arnold once and for all as an essential poet. Distinguished contributors to this volume offer the reader evaluations of Arnold's literary theory as well as analyses of his artistry in prose and poetry. The essays DeLaura presents stress the centrality of religious concerns in Arnold's work, and suggest the intellectual scope, complexity, and adequacy of his achievement. -- From publisher's description.