Which writers did Matthew Arnold discuss in Essays in Criticism?

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In his influential collection Essays in Criticism, Matthew Arnold discussed a wide range of writers across two series.

In the First Series (1865), Arnold focused on European figures to broaden the horizons of English criticism, including:
* Maurice de Guérin1
* Eugénie de Guérin1
* Heinrich Heine1
* Joseph Joubert1
* Baruch Spinoza1
* Marcus Aurelius1

The Second Series (1888) shifted focus primarily to English poets, alongside two later figures:
* John Milton1
* Thomas Gray1
* John Keats1
* William Wordsworth1
* Lord Byron1
* Percy Bysshe Shelley1
* Leo Tolstoy1
* Henri-Frédéric Amiel1

Through these essays, Arnold sought to apply modern ideas to literature and life, evaluating each writer's "criticism of life" and their value to the modern spirit.1