Quiet Work Poem by Matthew Arnold

Quiet Work

Rating: 2.8


One lesson, Nature, let me learn of thee,
One lesson which in every wind is blown,
One lesson of two duties kept at one
Though the loud world proclaim their enmity--

Of toil unsever'd from tranquility!
Of labor, that in lasting fruit outgrows
Far noisier schemes, accomplish'd in repose,
Too great for haste, too high for rivalry.

Yes, while on earth a thousand discords ring,
Man's fitful uproar mingling with his toil,
Still do thy sleepless ministers move on,

Their glorious tasks in silence perfecting;
Still working, blaming still our vain turmoil,
Laborers that shall not fail, when man is gone.

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shatarupa 12 January 2020

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Susan Williams 08 January 2016

He longs for the world of 'nature', 'Unsever'd from tranquility', its glorious tasks In silence perfecting'. He totally believed that nature could teach people to find the way how to live and leave our vain turmoil behind.

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Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold

Middlesex / England
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