--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And we are here as on a darkling plain…" description: "\"“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" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6a/matthew-arnold-1235_struggle_and-we-are-here-as-on-a-darkling-plain-s_2473491.jpg" --- # And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept with confused… ![“And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night.” quote by Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6a/matthew-arnold-1235_struggle_and-we-are-here-as-on-a-darkling-plain-s_2473491.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6a/matthew-arnold-1235_struggle_and-we-are-here-as-on-a-darkling-plain-s_2473491.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6a/matthew-arnold-1235_struggle_and-we-are-here-as-on-a-darkling-plain-s_2473491.jpg) > ““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 lines evoke a bleak landscape where confusion and conflict dominate, reflecting humanity's struggle. **In simple terms:** Life can feel like a dark, confusing battlefield. Key Takeaway Find clarity amidst chaos. Themes conflict confusion human condition Mood melancholic thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - war zones - personal crises - societal unrest - ethical dilemmas Key Concepts existentialism war metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What light can you create? - How do you navigate uncertainty? A Different Perspective The metaphor may overgeneralize suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Armies Clash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/armies-clash-786035/) [Darkling Plain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkling-plain-786036/) [Ignorant Armies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorant-armies-786034/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Struggle Flight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle-flight-498590/) ## Related quotes > [“The dead do not see, unless they look from a brighter place than this darkling plain where ignorant armies clash by night.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-dead-do-not-see-unless-they-look-from-a-brighter-place-than-this/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“struggle. 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What are you willing to struggle for?” Because that seems to be a greater determinant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-manson/what-pain-do-you-want-in-your-life-what-are-you-willing-to-struggle/) [Mark Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-manson/) > [To refer even in passing to unpublished or struggling authors and their problems is to put oneself at some risk, so I will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley-amis/to-refer-even-in-passing-to-unpublished-or-struggling-authors-and/) [Kingsley Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley-amis/) > [If you’re a person struggling to eat and stay healthy you might have heard about Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali, but you’ll never have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/if-you-re-a-person-struggling-to-eat-and-stay-healthy-you-might-have/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [I don't doubt that straight white men have identity issues and identity complexes and struggle with defining themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-simien/i-don-t-doubt-that-straight-white-men-have-identity-issues-and/) [Justin Simien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-simien/) ## 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! 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What are you willing to struggle for?” Because that seems to be a greater determinant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-manson/what-pain-do-you-want-in-your-life-what-are-you-willing-to-struggle/) [Mark Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-manson/) > [When we have public success we also have private struggles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deion-sanders/when-we-have-public-success-we-also-have-private-struggles/) [Deion Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deion-sanders/) > [I always feel like I'm struggling to become someone else. Like I'm trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-always-feel-like-i-m-struggling-to-become-someone-else-like-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Receiving the care that you need, and are entitled to, shouldn't be a struggle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marty-walsh/receiving-the-care-that-you-need-and-are-entitled-to-shouldn-t-be-a/) [Marty Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marty-walsh/) > [Well, He had known what love was-a sharp pang, a fierce experience, in the midst of whose flames he was struggling! but, through that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gaskell/well-he-had-known-what-love-was-a-sharp-pang-a-fierce-experience-in/) [Elizabeth Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gaskell/) > [Someone else who liked what I did might turn around and say, "She's reworking and rethinking everything. 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