Study Questions

1.  Who is the speaker of this poem? Who is he talking to? What is their relationship like? What is the setting that is described in the first stanza?

2. Why do you think the speaker would be talking to his lover about Sophocles, the Aegean Sea, the "Sea of Faith,"¨ and "ignorant armies"? Who was Sophocles? What does the speaker mean by the "Sea of Faith"? Who are the "ignorant armies"?

3. To help you understand this poem you might want to review what you know about nineteenth century English history. Why was religious faith being criticized when this poem was first published in 1867?

4. What is the relationship between the setting in stanza one and the description in stanza two of what Sophocles heard beside another sea? What is the relationship of the first and second stanzas to the "Sea of Faith" described in stanza three?

5. The final stanza offers love as the solution for the problems that the speaker and his lover see in the world around them. Explain the meaning of love and its importance in this poem. Do you agree with Arnold's idea?
   What does this poem suggest about love and the modern world?