Matthew Arnold's Sohrab and Rustum, and Other Poems

The emotional heart of this collection is the magnificent narrative poem "Sohrab and Rustum," a retelling of a Persian legend about a young warrior who seeks his lost father, not knowing that father stands as his enemy on the battlefield. Arnold renders this tale in luminous blank verse where destiny's cruel machinery grinds forward with terrible inevitability. The young warrior Sohrab, raised apart from his father Rustum, has spent his life dreaming of the day they'll be reunited. That day comes on the battlefield, but father and son, strangers to each other, fight to the death before recognition can dawn. The final stanzas, where Rustum discovers the truth beside his fallen opponent, represent some of the most devastating poetry in the English language. The collection also includes Arnold's lyrical poems, quieter reflective pieces that showcase his mastery of melancholic observation. For readers who believe poetry should wound them, this is essential Victorian literature.