Why does Thyrsis use the Oxford countryside as its setting?

In his elegiac poem Thyrsis, Matthew Arnold utilizes the Oxford countryside as a setting to serve as a poignant backdrop for mourning his friend, the poet Arthur Hugh Clough.12

The landscape functions as a vessel for memory and reflection, allowing Arnold to vividly recall the time he and Clough spent exploring the area together as students during the 1840s. By grounding the poem in this shared geography, Arnold creates a pastoral space where he can contemplate the passage of time and review the fate of the youthful ideals they held before leaving the university. The setting effectively bridges the gap between their past intimacy and the reality of Clough’s death in 1861, transforming the familiar hills and fields into a site of nostalgic meditation on lost youth and the evolution of their lives.13