Arthur Hugh Clough

Arthur Hugh Clough was a Victorian English poet whose work explores religious doubt and intellectual uncertainty. His poetry is known for its honest treatment of the conflict between faith and modernity. Biography ↓More ↓

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Arthur Hugh Clough

Across the Sea Along the Shore

Across the sea, along the shore, In numbers more and ever more, From lonely hut and busy town, The valley through, the mountain down, What was it ye went out to see, Ye silly folk Galilee? The reed that in the wind doth shake? The weed that washes in the lake? The reeds that waver, the weeds that float? A young man preaching in a boat. What was it ye went out to hear By sea and land from far and near? A teacher? Rather seek the feet Of those who sit in Moses' seat. Go humbly seek, and bow to them, Far off in great Jerusalem.

Arthur Hugh Clough

Through a Glass Darkly

What we, when face to face we see The Father of our souls, shall be, John tells us, doth not yet appear; Ah! did he tell what we are here! A mind for thoughts to pass into, A heart for loves to travel through, Five senses to detect things near, Is this the whole that we are here? Rules baffle instincts--instinct rules, Wise men are bad--and good are fools, Facts evil--wishes vain appear, We cannot go, why are we here? O may we for assurance's sake, Some arbitrary judgement take, And wilfully pronounce it clear, For this or that 'tis we are here?

There Is No God, the Wicked Sayeth

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There Is No God, the Wicked Sayeth

"There is no God," the wicked saith, "And truly it's a blessing, For what He might have done with us It's better only guessing."

"There is no God," a youngster thinks, "or really, if there may be, He surely did not mean a man Always to be a baby."

"There is no God, or if there is," The tradesman thinks, "'twere funny If He should take it ill in me To make a little money."

"Whether there be," the rich man says, "It matters very little, For I and mine, thank somebody, Are not in want of victual."

Some others, also, to themselves, Who scarce so much as doubt it, Think there is none, when they are well, And do not think about it.

But country folks who live beneath The shadow of the steeple; The parson and the parson's wife, And mostly married people;

Youths green and happy in first love, So thankful for illusion; And men caught out in what the world Calls guilt, in first confusion;

And almost everyone when age, Disease, or sorrows strike him, Inclines to think there is a God, Or something very like Him.

Biography

An English poet of the Victorian era, Arthur Hugh Clough is recognized for his narrative and dramatic poetry addressing the spiritual crises of the nineteenth century. His major works include the long poems 'The Bothie of Tober-na-Vuolich' and 'Amours de Voyage', and the unfinished 'Dipsychus'. Clough's poetry often reflects the struggle between faith and skepticism, employing a conversational tone that captures the intellectual anxieties of his time. He was closely associated with the Oxford Movement but gradually moved toward religious doubt, a journey chronicled in his verse. His short lyric 'Say not the struggle nought availeth' remains widely anthologized for its message of perseverance. Clough's life and friendship with Matthew Arnold inspired Arnold's elegy 'Thyrsis'. His work holds a significant place in Victorian literature as an unflinching portrayal of moral and existential questioning.

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