---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ah, love, let us be true To one another!…"
description: "\"Ah, love, let us be true To one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath real..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/matthew-arnold-1235_alarms_ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another-fo_239961.jpg"
---

#  Ah, love, let us be true To one another! for the world…

![“Ah, love, let us be true To one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept with confused alarms…” quote by Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/matthew-arnold-1235_alarms_ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another-fo_239961.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/matthew-arnold-1235_alarms_ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another-fo_239961.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/matthew-arnold-1235_alarms_ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another-fo_239961.jpg)

> “Ah, love, let us be true To one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night.”

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The poem reflects on humanity’s yearning for truth and beauty amid uncertainty and conflict.

**In simple terms:** People seek truth and beauty despite chaos.

Key Takeaway

Seek meaning even in turmoil.

Themes

truth beauty uncertainty conflict humanity

Mood

melancholic hopeful

Type

poetic philosophical

When to use this quote

- personal reflection
- philosophical contemplation
- artistic inspiration

Key Concepts

existentialism romanticism hope

Questions to Reflect On

- What does “darkling plain” symbolize?
- How can we find beauty in struggle?

A Different Perspective

Idealism may clash with harsh realities.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Army](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/army/) [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Clash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clash/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/)

## Related quotes

> [Ah love, let us be true to one another, which seems to lie before us like a land of dreams; so various, so beautiful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another-which-seems-to-lie-before-us/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [Ah, love, let us be true To one another!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [Love let us all be true, the world before us seems a land of dreams. So various, so beautiful, so new, as really no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-macdonald/love-let-us-all-be-true-the-world-before-us-seems-a-land-of-dreams-so/)

[Kyle MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-macdonald/)

> [Ah woe is me, through all my daysWisdom and wealth I both have got,And fame and name and great men's praise;But Love, ah! Love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cuyler-bunner/ah-woe-is-me-through-all-my-dayswisdom-and-wealth-i-both-have-got-and/)

[Henry Cuyler Bunner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cuyler-bunner/)

> [“Ah, love. How dangerous it was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allynn-riggs/ah-love-how-dangerous-it-was/)

[Allynn Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allynn-riggs/)

> [AH IT IS LOVE(:](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clare/ah-it-is-love/)

[CLARE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clare/)

> [Ah, love is a voyage with water and a star, in drowning air and squalls of precipitate bran; love is a war of lights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/ah-love-is-a-voyage-with-water-and-a-star-in-drowning-air-and-squalls/)

[Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/)

> [Ah me! love can not be cured by herbs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/ah-me-love-can-not-be-cured-by-herbs/)

[Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/)

> [Ah, love, 'tis a sorrowful land!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-rand/ah-love-tis-a-sorrowful-land/)

[Kenneth Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-rand/)

> [Ah me! why may not love and life be one?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-timrod/ah-me-why-may-not-love-and-life-be-one/)

[Henry Timrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-timrod/)

> [Ah! what is love! It is a pretty thing, As sweet unto a shepherd as a king, And sweeter too; For kings have cares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/ah-what-is-love-it-is-a-pretty-thing-as-sweet-unto-a-shepherd-as-a/)

[Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/)

> [“Ah, my love. An apocalypse is a relative thing, isn’t it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/ah-my-love-an-apocalypse-is-a-relative-thing-isn-t-it/)

[N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/)

> [Ah, love. That’s what the world has lost. There’s no more love, only the illusion of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-destefano/ah-love-that-s-what-the-world-has-lost-there-s-no-more-love-only-the/)

[Lauren DeStefano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-destefano/)

> [Ah, me, if this is love, then how it torments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/ah-me-if-this-is-love-then-how-it-torments/)

[Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/)

> [Ah! some love Paris, / And some Purdue. / But love is an archer with a low I.Q. / A bold, bad bowman, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-mcginley/ah-some-love-paris-and-some-purdue-but-love-is-an-archer-with-a-low-i/)

[Phyllis McGinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-mcginley/)

## More by Matthew Arnold

> [Culture looks beyond machinery, culture hates hatred; culture has one great passion, the passion for sweetness and light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-looks-beyond-machinery-culture-hates-hatred-culture-has-one/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [We must hold fast to the austere but true doctrine as to what really governs politics and saves or destroys states. Having in mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/we-must-hold-fast-to-the-austere-but-true-doctrine-as-to-what-really/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [“Culture is the endeavour to know the best and to make this knowledge prevail for the good of all humankind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-is-the-endeavour-to-know-the-best-and-to-make-this-knowledge/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [The difference between genuine poetry and the poetry of Dryden, Pope, and all their school, is briefly this: their poetry is conceived and composed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/the-difference-between-genuine-poetry-and-the-poetry-of-dryden-pope/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [Culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-the-acquainting-ourselves-with-the-best-that-has-been-known/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [Strew on her roses, roses, And never a spray of yew! In quiet she reposes; Ah, would that I did too!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/strew-on-her-roses-roses-and-never-a-spray-of-yew-in-quiet-she/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [Nature, with equal mind, Sees all her sons at play, Sees man control the wind, The wind sweep man away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/nature-with-equal-mind-sees-all-her-sons-at-play-sees-man-control-the/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [Six years-six little years-six drops of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/six-years-six-little-years-six-drops-of-time/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [Let the long contention cease! / Geese are swans, and swans are geese.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/let-the-long-contention-cease-geese-are-swans-and-swans-are-geese/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [It is almost impossible to exaggerate the proneness of the human mind to take miracles as evidence, and to seek for miracles as evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/it-is-almost-impossible-to-exaggerate-the-proneness-of-the-human-mind/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [Religion is ethics heightened, enkindled, lit up by feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/religion-is-ethics-heightened-enkindled-lit-up-by-feeling/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [Genius is mainly an affair of energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/genius-is-mainly-an-affair-of-energy/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [Culture is both an intellectual phenomenon and a moral one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-is-both-an-intellectual-phenomenon-and-a-moral-one/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [English civilization the humanizing, the bringing into one harmonious and truly humane life, of the whole body of English society that is what interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/english-civilization-the-humanizing-the-bringing-into-one-harmonious/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

> [“Wandering between two worlds, one dead The other powerless to be born, With nowhere yet to rest my head Like these, on earth I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/wandering-between-two-worlds-one-dead-the-other-powerless-to-be-born/)

[Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

[Explore all 267 Matthew Arnold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/)

## More Alarms quotes

> [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/)

[Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/)

> [There's a statement from several members of the Senate, both Democrats and Republicans, including the Democratic leader, Charles Schumer; John McCain, the chair of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-stephanopoulos/there-s-a-statement-from-several-members-of-the-senate-both-democrats/)

[George Stephanopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-stephanopoulos/)

> [Here in the UK the audience immediately reacts and they get the fact that: "What would be the most annoying thing in the world?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-jones/here-in-the-uk-the-audience-immediately-reacts-and-they-get-the-fact/)

[Duncan Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-jones/)

> [It is a hard matter for a man to lie all over, nature having provided king's evidence in almost every member. The hand will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-allston/it-is-a-hard-matter-for-a-man-to-lie-all-over-nature-having-provided/)

[Washington Allston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-allston/)

> [Who then is free? the wise man who is lord over himself; Whom neither poverty nor death, nor chains alarm; strong to withstand his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/who-then-is-free-the-wise-man-who-is-lord-over-himself-whom-neither/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [Modern man threw a brick through his own window in order to sell himself a burglar alarm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-carr/modern-man-threw-a-brick-through-his-own-window-in-order-to-sell/)

[Allen Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-carr/)

> [I understand the power and the alarm of words - Not those that they applaud from theatre-boxes, but those which make coffins break from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-mayakovsky/i-understand-the-power-and-the-alarm-of-words-not-those-that-they/)

[Vladimir Mayakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-mayakovsky/)

> [I don't know who Azazel is," he said. "Isn't he the cat from The Smurfs?" He cast about , but Isabelle just looked up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-don-t-know-who-azazel-is-he-said-isn-t-he-the-cat-from-the-smurfs/)

[Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/)

> [The beloved may be treacherous, greasy-headed and given to evil habits, or else it can be a man in his late forties who works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/the-beloved-may-be-treacherous-greasy-headed-and-given-to-evil-habits/)

[Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/)

> [Those who have past much of their lives in this great city, look upon its opulence and its multitudes, its extent and variety, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/those-who-have-past-much-of-their-lives-in-this-great-city-look-upon/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

> [Unfortunately, I'm one of those idiots who knows everything about health and is in a constant state of alarm, and yet I continue to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-ames/unfortunately-i-m-one-of-those-idiots-who-knows-everything-about/)

[Jonathan Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-ames/)

> [“batteries in the smoke alarms, and since he “just happened”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-lawson-timmer/batteries-in-the-smoke-alarms-and-since-he-just-happened/)

[Julie Lawson Timmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-lawson-timmer/)

> [When I see a new face, something sets off an alarm bell inside me. 'slow down! Danger!' Even when the attraction is strongest, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/when-i-see-a-new-face-something-sets-off-an-alarm-bell-inside-me-slow/)

[Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/)

> [It's gonna be awesome! A suspected pedophile dunks my kids head in a bucket so when she dies she can live in an invisible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gould/it-s-gonna-be-awesome-a-suspected-pedophile-dunks-my-kids-head-in-a/)

[Dana Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gould/)

> [I am sick of the girl who cries 'wolf' all the time. Even though not one of those cries was ever a false alarm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-am-sick-of-the-girl-who-cries-wolf-all-the-time-even-though-not-one/)

[Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/)

Browse all 360 Alarms quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Ah, love, let us be true To one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Matthew Arnold"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another-for-the-world-which-seems-to/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Alarms"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another-for-the-world-which-seems-to/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/matthew-arnold-1235_alarms_ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another-fo_239961.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/matthew-arnold-1235_alarms_ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another-fo_239961.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/matthew-arnold-1235_alarms_ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another-fo_239961.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Ah, love, let us be true To one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams…” — Matthew Arnold",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Matthew Arnold",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Ah, love, let us be true...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another-for-the-world-which-seems-to/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another-for-the-world-which-seems-to/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
