To Marguerite

The idea of faith is very important in Arnold's work. Faith is the virtue that he believes humans have lost in the modern era, in which they are only focused on working themselves to death. It is notable that faith is not a specifically religious sentiment for Arnold - he often questioned religion - but is rather an essential part of the human spirit that is being wrongfully obscured by the prominence of scientific reasoning. The undercurrent of the poem is a skepticism in scientific discovery. The basic premise - that the continent has broken apart and drifted into separate islands - is based on a rational theory that reflects Enlightenment thought. This rational, scientific reading might have a basis in fact, but it for Arnold makes us spiritually distant from one another. We have traded faith - in the great community engendered by shared religious faith - for separation.