Matthew Arnold's The Buried Life is such an incredible poem, with a subject that is able to last through the ages. When I interpreted this poem, I understood that it is about the difficulty and the desire to understand and become our true selves. I believe Matthew Arnold is trying to achieve an understanding of self acceptance that is so hidden and makes us so insecure that even our closest loved ones don't see it because even us, ourselves haven't accepted it.
"Alas! is even love too weak
To unlock the heart, and let it speak?
Are
even lovers powerless to reveal
To one another what indeed they feel?"
The reason I feel this poem, this line especially, are able to speak to generations through out the ages is the human need for accpetance. Anyone from teens to middle aged people want to accepted by their surrounding peers, whether it be at work, school or in your social groups. The burying of what we see as flaws, and the hidden quirks and things that make us individuals, is not how our lives should be lived. I think Arnold is trying to get us to break free of the chains of insecurity that bury our lives because of fear, and in a sense, "let our freak flags fly".
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