# Touchstone (metaphor)

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Measure to test a metaphorical concept

This article is about the metaphor. For the tool to identify metals, see [Touchstone (assaying tool)](/source/Touchstone_(assaying_tool)). For other uses, see [Touchstone (disambiguation)](/source/Touchstone_(disambiguation)).

As a [metaphor](/source/Metaphor), a **touchstone** is any physical or intellectual measure by which the validity or merit of a concept can be tested. It is similar in use to an [acid test](/source/Acid_test_(gold)), or a [litmus test](/source/Litmus_test_(politics)) in politics.

The word was introduced into literary criticism by [Matthew Arnold](/source/Matthew_Arnold) in "Preface to the volume of 1853 poems" (1853) to denote short but distinctive passages, selected from the writings of the greatest poets, which he used to determine the relative value of passages or poems which are compared to them. Arnold proposed this method of evaluation as a corrective for what he called the "fallacious" estimates of poems according to their "historic" importance in the development of literature, or else according to their "personal" appeal to an individual critic.[1]

## Origin of the term

Main article: [Touchstone (assaying tool)](/source/Touchstone_(assaying_tool))

A touchstone is a small tablet of dark stone such as [fieldstone](/source/Fieldstone), [slate](/source/Slate), or [lydite](/source/Lydite), used for [assaying](/source/Metallurgical_assay) [precious metal](/source/Precious_metal) [alloys](/source/Alloy). It has a finely grained surface on which soft [metals](/source/Metal) leave a visible trace.[2]

## In literature

An example in literature is the character of [Touchstone](/source/Touchstone_(As_You_Like_It)) in Shakespeare's *[As You Like It](/source/As_You_Like_It)*, described as "a [wise fool](/source/Wise_fool) who acts as a kind of guide or point of reference throughout the play, putting everyone, including himself, to the comic test".[3]

- Dante's "In la sua volontade è nostra pace" ("In his will is our peace"; Paradiso, III.85)[4]

A touchstone can be a short passage from recognized masters' works used in assessing the relative merit of poetry and literature. This sense of the term was coined by Matthew Arnold in his essay "The Study of Poetry", where he gives Hamlet's dying words to Horatio as an example of a touchstone.[5]

## In German politics

In [Germany](/source/Germany), various [interest groups](/source/Interest_group) sometimes send questionnaires to the campaigning political parties before federal parliament elections. These questionnaires, consisting of political survey questions the interest groups are interested in, are often called "electoral touchstones" (*German:* [Wahlprüfsteine](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahlpr%C3%BCfstein)). Those answers of a political party which might support or threaten the political goals of an interest group are finally published by the group in order to influence the voting behavior of potential voters being in favor of the political views of the interest group.

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Abrams, M.H; Glossary of Literary Terms

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Touchstone"](https://www.oed.com/dictionary/touchstone_n). *Oxford English Dictionary*. Retrieved 1 March 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [John Palmer](http://www.enotes.com/ayli/36173)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Abrams, M.H. Glossary of Literary Terms

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Arnold, Matthew. "The Study of Poetry." Essays: English and American. Ed. Charles W. Eliot. 1909–14. Published April 11, 2001 by Bartleby.com [\[1\]](http://www.bartleby.com/28/5.html).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Touchstone (metaphor)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchstone_(metaphor)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchstone_(metaphor)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.