00177--What is Matthew Arnold’s estimate of Dryden and Pope? [Robert Burns/Thomas Gray/Chaucer]

“Dryden and Pope are not classics of our poetry; they are classics of our prose.”  This is how Arnold evaluates Dryden and Pope.  He gives Thomas Gray a greater position.  He says that Gray is our poetical classics of the 18^th century.  Along with the names of Dryden and Pope, Matthew Arnold mentions the name of Robert Burns.  Burns’ English poems are simple to read.  But the real Burns is of course in his Scotch poems.  His poems deal with Scotch way of life, scotch drinks, scotch religion and Scotch manners.  A Scotch man may be familiar with such things, but for an outsider these may sound personal.  For supreme practical success more is required.  In the opinion of Arnold, Burns comes short of the high seriousness of the great classics, something is wanting in his poetry.    In his comparative study Arnold gives Chaucer a better position.  The world of Chaucer is fairer, richer and more significant than that of Burns.