DOVER BEACH by
MATTHEW ARNOLD
The sea is calm tonight.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand;
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
Listen!you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling
At their return, up the strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Aegaean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and around earth’s shore
Lay like the fold of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! For this 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.
Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold
The poem begins by describing the beautiful moonlit scene. The sights and sounds of the sea are described with care. He introduces his companion and encourages her outside to experience the scene assuring her that it is quite safe – night air can cause a chill but in this case the air is warm and soothing. A feeling of peace and all is right with the world- strong words describe England.
The words and punctuation describe the sounds of the waves on the pebble beach. Long sounds and short sounds, commas, full stops and enjambment give the reader the idea of the waves. The last line, though, shows that there is a deeper feeling here – one of sadness at the human condition. Enjambment is where the line carries over into the next line or verse and shows continuing thoughts or movement.
He says that Sophocles wrote about the feeling that the sea and human misery were linked. The weary and relentless sound of the waves wearing away the shore, never ending, destroying life etc. So he links the feelings he has with the ancient past and the first rational thinkers of Philosophy.
Then he ponders on the idea of religious faith being like a tide which was full and touched everything. Art, joy, appreciation of the world and a controlling higher power brought happiness and order. But that now that wave is beginning to ebb away and there is no feeling of certainty. That we are on our own in a hostile wilderness.
Finally he says that the only thing which they can rely on is their love for each other. The sigh at the beginning of the verse and the mention of “love” shows that it is the one thing he is sure of, because the world only seems to be wonderful. He lists a number of negatives to show just what an illusion the world is and how it is really all confusion and death.
The fact that he ends with all the negatives shows that he is basically depressed about the world and humanity BUT is he hopeful about his own and his lover’s feelings for each other.