Arnold also studied at Balliol College, Oxford University under a classical scholarship. Instead of applying himself to any one subject, he read widely. He also read a great deal of Roman and Greek literature. He became a close friend of Arthur Hugh Clough.

In 1844, he completed his undergraduate degree and returned to Rugby as a teacher of classics for a time. In 1847, he became the private secretary to Lord Lansdowne, an active politician.

During travels in 1848, he met and fell in love with a French woman, but they did not marry. He also met George Sand and Chopin.

Arnold's first volume of poetry, The Strayed Reveller and Other Poems, appeared in 1849.

With the help of Lord Lansdowne, Arnold was given the post of Inspector of Schools in 1851. He married Frances Wightman the same year. His position as Inspector caused some problems because of the tremendous raveling that was required, but he held the position until 1886.

In 1852, Empedocles on Etna and Other Poems appeared; Poems appeared the following year.

Almost all of Arnold's memorable poetry was written by the time he was 30. After about 1855, he turned to writing essays and lectures. In 1857, he was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford.

He died in 1888, the same year that T. S. Eliot was born.

Arnold is considered on of the "Big Three" Victorian poets (along with Tennyson and Robert Browning). He was not really recognized in his own time, but his work has left an indelible mark upon literary history.

Like Carlyle, Ruskin and Newman, Matthew Arnold revolted against the materialism of his day. However, Arnold did not seek solace or inspiration from spirituality. Instead, he keeps his eyes on the future.

Matthew Arnold is remembered for his critical essay and for his career as a poet, creating works like Essays in Criticism (1865) and Culture and Anarchy (1869), along with poetry: "The Forsaken Merman," "To a Friend," "Shakespeare," "To Marguerite," "The Buried Life," "The Scholar Gipsy," and more. One of his most famous works is the poem "Dover Beach."

Matthew Arnold's own assessment of his poetry was:

"My poems represent, on the whole, the main movement of mind over the last quarter of a century, and thus they will probably have their day as people become conscious to themselves of what that movement of mind is, and interested in the literary productions which reflect it. It might be fairly urged that I have less practical sentiment than Tennyson, and less intellectual vigour and abundance than Browning; yet, because I have perhaps more of a fusion of the two than either of them, and have more regularly applied that fusion to the main line of modern development, I am likely enough to have my turn, as they have had theirs."