Alaric at Rome

Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) was an English poet, writer and cultural critic. He has been characterised as a sage writer, a type of writer who chastises and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues. He was also an inspector of schools for thirty-five years, and supported the concept of state-regulated secondary education.

In 1883 and 1884, Arnold toured the United States and Canada delivering lectures on education, democracy and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1883. In 1886, he retired from school inspection and made another trip to America.

Alaric at Rome, recited in Rugby School on June 12, 1840, is one of the Arnold’s early poems. It was included in 1897 in the collection The Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold.