Is “The Scholar Gipsy” as a Pastoral elegy ? Do you agree? Give you answer.

"The Scholar-Gipsy" as a Pastoral Elegy: An Analysis

Matthew Arnold's poem, The Scholar-Gipsy (1853), is a work deeply rooted in the pastoral tradition, blending elements of nature, meditation, and an exploration of the human condition. Although it is not a conventional elegy in the strictest sense, the poem does evoke many of the features of a pastoral elegy—a poetic form traditionally used to mourn the loss of an individual while idealizing rural life and nature. Arnold's poem deals not with the literal death of a person but rather with the death of an ideal or a way of life, which places it within the broad scope of pastoral elegy. However, Arnold’s treatment of these themes is subtle and indirect, making The Scholar-Gipsy an unconventional but compelling example of this poetic form.

This essay will explore The Scholar-Gipsy as a pastoral elegy by examining its pastoral setting, themes of mourning and loss, and Arnold's meditation on the modern world’s disintegration of ideals and values.

1. Pastoral Setting and Idealization of Nature

One of the defining characteristics of the pastoral elegy is its idealized depiction of nature and rural life. In The Scholar-Gipsy, Arnold constructs a serene and idyllic rural setting, evoking the timeless beauty of the Oxford countryside. The poem opens with a description of the landscape in which the scholar’s story is set:

"Go, for they call you, Shepherd, from the hill;

Go, shepherd, and untie the wattled cotes:

No longer leave thy wistful flock unfed,

Nor let thy bawling fellows rack their throats,

Nor the cropp'd herbage shoot another head.

But when the fields are still,

And the tired men and dogs all gone to rest,

And only the white sheep are sometimes seen

Cross and recross the strips of moon-blanch'd green,

Come, shepherd, and again begin the quest."

In these lines, Arnold employs traditional pastoral imagery—shepherds, fields, and sheep—reminding the reader of the pastoral elegy’s conventional focus on rural life. The depiction of the countryside serves as a symbolic space of simplicity, peace, and a retreat from the pressures and complexities of the modern world. The pastoral tradition often contrasts rural life with the corrupting influence of urban or courtly society, and in Arnold’s case, the countryside becomes a place of solace and purity that stands in stark opposition to the decaying, materialistic modern world.

Arnold’s use of pastoral imagery also extends beyond mere description. It functions as a metaphor for a simpler, more authentic way of life, one that the scholar is said to have pursued by abandoning his studies at Oxford to live with a group of wandering gipsies. This choice of lifestyle is emblematic of the Romantic ideal of a return to nature, rejecting the artificial and soul-crushing aspects of modern society.

2. Themes of Loss and Mourning

In a traditional pastoral elegy, the poet typically mourns the death of a friend, often a fellow poet, by celebrating their life and lamenting the loss. The Scholar-Gipsy, however, does not center on the physical death of the scholar but rather on the metaphorical death of a certain idealistic way of life. The poem reflects Arnold’s lament over the spiritual and intellectual decay he perceived in the modern world.

The Scholar-Gipsy is a figure who escapes the "fever" of modern life in pursuit of a higher truth, free from the distractions of society and the intellectual malaise of the time. His abandonment of Oxford in favor of a life of wandering with the gipsies represents the rejection of modern values. Arnold writes:

"The world has overgrown them, and the quest

Is not for them; they toil not; but a quest

That was pursued by that lone wandering man

Of patience and endurance."

While the poem does not directly mourn a person’s death, it mourns the loss of the ideals that the Scholar-Gipsy represents—patience, endurance, and a commitment to an intellectual quest that is unaffected by the materialism and distractions of modern society. In this sense, Arnold’s elegy is for an entire worldview and for the purity of the intellectual and spiritual life, which has been corrupted by the demands of industrialization and modernity.

Arnold conveys a sense of longing for a past in which such ideals could be pursued without compromise, a time when individuals were not consumed by the feverish pace and superficial distractions of modern life. The Scholar-Gipsy’s decision to abandon the academic life in favor of a more authentic existence is presented as a model of what has been lost in Arnold’s time. Therefore, the poem serves as a mourning of the death of an age of intellectual purity, making it a fitting candidate for a pastoral elegy in the thematic sense.

3. The Scholar-Gipsy as an Immortal Figure

A notable departure from the traditional pastoral elegy is Arnold’s treatment of the Scholar-Gipsy as a figure who is not subject to death. Instead, the Scholar-Gipsy achieves a form of immortality by existing outside the corrupting influences of modern life. In the poem, the scholar is portrayed as having escaped the "sick hurry" and "divided aims" of contemporary society:

"For what wears out the life of mortal men?

'Tis that from change to change their being rolls:

'Tis that repeated shocks, again, again,

Exhaust the energy of strongest souls,

And numb the elastic powers."

Unlike ordinary mortals, who are worn down by the constant flux and pressures of modern existence, the Scholar-Gipsy remains untouched by these forces. He exists outside time, never growing old, as long as he remains free from the contamination of modern society. This aspect of the poem offers a counterpoint to the conventional elegy, where death is usually a central theme. Here, the Scholar-Gipsy represents a timeless ideal—an individual who has transcended the limitations of mortal life by rejecting the conditions that lead to spiritual decay.

Arnold’s treatment of immortality in the figure of the Scholar-Gipsy can be seen as a form of elegiac consolation. In traditional pastoral elegies, the poet often finds solace in the belief that the deceased has achieved immortality, whether through their poetic legacy or through union with nature. In The Scholar-Gipsy, Arnold achieves a similar effect by presenting the Scholar-Gipsy as a figure who lives on, not in death, but in his perpetual separation from the corruptions of the world.

4. Critique of Modernity

At the heart of The Scholar-Gipsy is a critique of modernity, which Arnold sees as responsible for the destruction of the ideal life that the Scholar-Gipsy represents. The poem’s famous closing lines encapsulate Arnold’s sense of despair at the state of the modern world:

"And we, light half-believers of our casual creeds,

Who never deeply felt, nor clearly willed,

Whose insight never has borne fruit in deeds,

Whose vague resolves never have been fulfilled;

For whom each year we see

Breeds new beginnings, disappointments new;

Who hesitate and falter life away,

And lose tomorrow the ground won today—

Ah, do not we, wanderer, await it too?"

In this critique, Arnold mourns the fragmentation and superficiality of modern life. The poem expresses a longing for a world in which individuals can pursue a unified, focused existence, in contrast to the aimlessness and distraction that Arnold perceives as characteristic of his age. This sense of disillusionment with the present is another element that connects The Scholar-Gipsy to the pastoral elegy, which often involves a lament for a lost golden age or an idealized past.

Conclusion

While The Scholar-Gipsy does not fit neatly into the conventional form of a pastoral elegy, it nevertheless shares many of the key characteristics of the genre. Arnold’s poem evokes the traditional pastoral setting, mourns the loss of a particular way of life and idealism, and offers an elegiac reflection on the disintegration of values in modern society. Moreover, the figure of the Scholar-Gipsy represents an immortal ideal that contrasts with the mortal concerns of modern individuals, offering a form of consolation and hope in the face of spiritual decay.

In these ways, The Scholar-Gipsy can indeed be considered a pastoral elegy, though one that departs from the conventional focus on personal loss and physical death. Instead, Arnold’s elegy mourns the death of an age of intellectual purity and the increasing fragmentation of modern life, making it a powerful and enduring meditation on the condition of humanity.

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