Question

Which of the following poets does Arnold use as an example in his Touchstone Method?

• A. Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Milton
• B. Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley, and Chaucer
• C. Keats, Coleridge, Pope, and Tennyson
• D. Browning, Dryden, Eliot, and Blake

Answer 1

Answer:

A. Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Milton

Matthew Arnold uses poets such as Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Milton as examples in his Touchstone Method. He selects short passages from their works as benchmarks of poetic excellence. These passages serve as "touchstones" to evaluate other poetry, helping determine whether a poem possesses high seriousness, emotional depth, and lasting artistic merit.