The Forsaken Merman
by Matthew Arnold
Illustration to "The Forsaken Merman" in Poems by Matthew Arnold, 1900
Full text
The Forsaken Merman at Wikisource

"The Forsaken Merman" is a rhymed lyric poem written in irregular metre by Matthew Arnold, begun whilst he was studying at Oxford on a scholarship in the early 1840s, and which appeared in the poet's first published collection, The Strayed Reveller, and Other Poems, in 1849.^[1]

Synopsis[edit]

The basic premise recurs in Danish, Norwegian, German, and Slavonic folklore.^[1] The Merman, a King of the Sea, marries an earthly maiden, and lives with her happily, for many years, but at last she leaves him for a visit to her friends, promising, however, to return.^[2] Time passes, but she comes not back.^[2] Scruples of conscience have arisen, and she chooses, as she thinks, between her soul and her family.^[2] The story is told by the old Sea King, in what the reviewer Charles J. Peterson called "a wild, irregular melody", to his children.^[2]

Reception[edit]

Many critics initially found most of the poems in The Strayed Reveller to be obscure and aloof, but "The Forsaken Merman" was highly praised by fellow-poet Algernon Charles Swinburne for its lyric beauty.^[1]

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Peterson, Charles J. (May 1854). "An Hour with the New Poets". Peterson's Magazine, 25(5). p. 331.
• "The Forsaken Merman". The Story Museum. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2023.

Further reading[edit]

• Hyder, Clyde C. (1980). "'The Forsaken Merman' and 'The Neckan': Another Look". Studies in English, New Series, 1(4). pp. 1–15.
• Wright, Herbert (1918). "The Source of Matthew Arnold's 'Forsaken Merman'". The Modern Language Review, 13(1). pp. 90–94.

External links[edit]

• Dodsworth, Kim (December 29, 2017). "'The Forsaken Merman' by Matthew Arnold". Reading Radio (4RPH). Retrieved 7 April 2023.