from "The Voice" by Matthew Arnold

Literary Trivia Question #379: Which literary "voice" did Matthew Arnold have in mind when he wrote this poem?


"...Like bright waves that fall
With a lifelike motion
On the lifeless margin of the sparkling Ocean;
A wild rose climbing up a mouldering wall - 
A gush of sunbeams through a ruined hall - 
Strains of glad music at a funeral - 
So sad, and with so wild a start
To this deep-sobered heart,
So anxiously and painfully,
So drearily and doubtfully,
And oh, with such intolerable change
Of thought, such contrast strange,
O unforgotten voice, thy accents come,
Like wanderers from the world's extremity,
Unto their ancient home!" - from "The Voice" by Matthew Arnold