Immortality Comments

And he who flagg'd not in the earthly strife, From strength to strength advancing--only he, His soul well-knit, and all his battles won, Mounts, and that hardly, to eternal life. Very powerful lines.

From strength to strength advancing--only he, His soul well-knit, and all his battles won....liked these two lines!

Immorality is a very gorgeous poem

Beautiful and insightful.

For sure! The energy of the human race is inexhaustible.

Anything worth having Must be earned In heaven or on Earth.

Anything worth having Must be earned In heaven or on Earth.

Anything worth having, must be earned, In heaven or Earth.

Yup that's why Jesus (pbuh) was born on Earth...He was a prophet in order to warn the Children of Israel and to give them news of Heaven and Hell. He wasn't God. God sent him as a messenger. Jesus (pbuh) confirmed the messages of the prophets before him; he didn't change its consistency. God can not be man because God is too glorious for that. Think.

This world life is for those who face problems to solve for the better and not for the worn out souls; The capable persons of this world only can enjoy eternal life!

We cannot achieve heaven alone. There is no getting to heaven by the 'skin of our teeth.' Humans along are not good enough. That is why Jesus came to the earth. He was perfect and he died for us, to make up for our imperfections. If we try our hardest to be like him, even though we don't come close, he will take us the rest of the way to Heaven. I know that. It's not an opinion, it's a fact. If you want to know for yourself just pray to God. I promise you he will answer.

personally I think it reminds me of Norse mythology with only the brave souls in battle who have resolve to fight to the end for what they believe or their lively hood and die in battle. Of course I don't suppose I should give any one a history on the Valkyrie that take the souls of these men to Valhalla. I mean either that or the crusades fought in the medieval ages were both sides claimed they had a holy right to Jerusalem, and yes the crusaders we know now were mostly driven by money, but I don't think that would have been what Arnold learned of at any university of that time what with the subject of any corruption within the church such a touchy subject even hundreds of years later. I guess I'm trying to say Arnold died a while ago and I don't think he could be talking about the current war on terror, but rather the heroic Templar knights or maybe viking warriors. I mean that's just my thought on the subject take it how you want.

As usual, fellow members, Mr.''look at me''Pruchniki has his literary interpretations as skewed-up as he does his handle on modern day history! Unless i've been reading the wrong newaspapers, speaking to the wrong politicians or watching the wrong wars, (live, on CNN, no less) ....It is not today's Christians who go to War for God, or for an alleged guaranteed ticket to Paradise Hereafter. BTW: An excellent poem by a quantumly talented wordsmith, one Matthew Arnold. FjR

Let's see now - Ravi tells us that the poet Matthew Arnold is not concerned with the subject of his sonnet 'Immortality, ' that 'such dreams in no way harm the world'! Straw asserts that 'Immortality' in no way comports with the Sermon on the Mount, which ignores all the advice in the Sermon to 'give alms in secrecy, ' to not pray like the hypocrites with many meaningless words, and to perform religious duties where only God may see! It seems to me that Arnold takes a page from Christ's Sermon to warn the reader in the final lines of the sestet that at best to gain salvation just barely by the skin of one's teeth requires all the goodness one can muster in a lifetime of striving to reach the peak of one's goal - immortality in the eyes of God! Pagans do not have the same desire as a Christian who girds his loins and engages in daily combat for the glory of God!

Whether we have a life hereafterwards or not, let us live in grace and dignity in this life. This is all we can do. The rest will be decided by time. Heaven is a wishful thinking to maintain continuity of this mortal world. Man needs such dreams to keep low of the fear of death. It is a mindset. Nobody has come back from death to tell us about heaven. If people need the dream about heaven for their mental existence, let them have it. Such dreams in no way harm the world.

its nice poem i really really love it

its nice poem i really really love it

its nice poem i really really love it

its nice poem i really really love it

This view of heaven does not agree with the Sermon on the Mount in which the poor in spirit, they that mourn, the meek etc will be rewarded in the afterlife. This view of life as a kind of wrestling match with a 'brutal' world seems to me pagan rather than Christian.