Arthur Clough is among many once vaguely famous and now largely forgotten English poets of the 19th century.
"Clough
wasn''t exactly smug, but he was certainly a prig" Christiansen admits.
A major issue throughout Clough''s
life (at least Christiansen harps on it a great deal) was sex, and in this Christiansen sees Clough as epitomizing that awkward age.
Sex is a bit much on his mind, but seems also to have determined much of Clough''s own life -- a constant wrestling with his own lust and society''s
attitude towards sex (a changing attitude, much as the one towards religion was). Clough also kept interesting company -- from the Arnolds to Emerson -- and produced some exceptional work.