Mathew Arnold was one of the great posts of the Victorian Age. The main characteristics of this age were social unrest and political fermentation. In this poem, Arnold contrasts "this strange disease of modern life" with the life of the Scholar Gypsy who had "one aim, one business, one desire" in life. He also contrasts the peace and permanence of nature with the turmoil and tumult of human life. The poet asks his friend to come to him so that he may read to him the story of the Scholar Gypsy. He was a brilliant but poor scholar. He could not meet the educational expenses of the Oxford University. So, he left it and joined a caravan of gypsies. He learned the art of hypnotism. Then he went from place to place and showed his art to the people. In spring he was seen at the alehouse. But he shunned the "smock-frocked boors". In summer nights he was seen by the Oxford riders, but he avoided them too. In May, he gave flowers to the maidens but spoke no words. Thus he wondered here and there to learn and teach the Gypsies arts to rule man's brain. But it needed "heaven-sent moments" for this skill. His incessant wandering was, perhaps, to search and seek these sacred moments.
