Phenomenology and Matthew Arnold: An Uncollected Episode

Abstract

Matthew Arnold was a man of mystery. He was not conscious of this fact; but in his bearing, manner, and conversation, he produced this image. There are reasons, I think, for this. Arnold was Celtic in origin; and the imaginative mind, the reflective bent, and the interest in the supernatural that we associate with Celtic natures were his. Furthermore, Arnold grew up in the Lake Country of England, the haunt of the Romantics. And here as a young man, he was sensitive and receptive to the legends and tales of the weird and uncanny happenings of the area. His walks often carried him far from home and alongside the lakes on dark and misty nights where his imagination mingled with the unnatural sounds and scenes of the area.