Poetry: Sohrab and Rustum

Overview
Matthew Arnold's "Sohrab and Rustum" (1853) reworks a tragic episode from Persian epic tradition into a compact but intense narrative in blank verse. The poem compresses the scale of heroic sagas into a focused dramatic confrontation, exploring the consequences of anonymity, misrecognition, and destiny. Arnold balances epic grandeur with elegiac restraint, producing a moral and emotional parable rather than a strictly historical retelling.

Plot Summary
A young warrior, Sohrab, seeks glory and longs to find his legendary father, the Persian champion Rustum, whose identity has been withheld from him. Raised away from his father and enlisted on the opposing side, Sohrab confronts Rustum on the battlefield without recognizing him. The two combatants, each believing the other to be an enemy, fight with epic prowess and mutual respect until Rustum, aided by a crafty stratagem, mortally wounds Sohrab.

The Tragic Revelation
After the fatal blow, Sohrab reveals that he is the son of Rustum, and the truth of their relationship emerges in maddeningly late time. Rustum realizes, with overwhelming horror and grief, that he is the instrument of his own undoing. The poem closes on profound lamentation, capturing the collapse of heroic pride and the bitter aftermath of irreversible error.

Characters and Motivations
Sohrab appears as idealistic, courageous, and yearning for paternal recognition; his youth and hope intensify the sense of loss. Rustum embodies the established hero: mighty, battle-seasoned, and proud, yet capable of error through overreliance on martial craft. Tahmineh, the mother whose secret links father and son, functions more as an absent presence whose withheld information propels the tragedy. Secondary figures and the warlike setting highlight themes of honor, mistaken identity, and the human cost of heroic lore.

Themes and Tone
Central themes include fate versus agency, the limits of heroic code, and the destructive consequences of secrecy and pride. The poem's irony is sharp: pursuit of glory and adherence to warrior customs produce the very calamity they might have prevented. A prevailing tone of elegiac sorrow gives the narrative its moral weight; celebration of valor is constantly tempered by the poem's awareness of human fragility and loss.

Style and Sources
Arnold employs unrhymed iambic pentameter to produce a measured, elevated voice that echoes classical epics while remaining distinctly Victorian. Language alternates between luminous description and terse dramatic speech, creating concentrated moments of lyric intensity amid martial action. The primary inspiration is the Shahnameh and Persian epic tradition, filtered through Arnold's interests in public morality, culture, and the tension between heroic pasts and modern sensibilities.

Critical Resonance
The poem endures as a study of tragic irony and the moral limits of heroic mythology. Its economy, condensing vast legendary material into a humanly intimate catastrophe, sharpens emotional impact and prompts reflection on the social conditions that valorize war and conceal truth. "Sohrab and Rustum" remains notable for combining narrative force with philosophical melancholy, a synthesis that helped define Arnold's reputation as a poet of lucid intelligence and mournful sympathy.