“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 18th 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.