Dover Beach Analysis

The sea is calm to-night.

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-blanch'd land,

Listen! you hear the grating roar

Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,

At their return, up the high 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 {AE}gean, 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 round earth's shore

Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl'd.

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 the 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.

.: :.

Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach explores the concepts of modernism as he predicts a ‘new way of thinking’. His writing style is conventionally romantic with its use of free flowing verse and reference to nature however he describes these concepts avoiding the use of imagination as the subject instead placing it in a real, tangible surrounding: “The sea is calm to-night. The tide is full, the moon lies fair upon the straits”. Arnold refers to the faith of society and how it has faded, with “its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar” , due to new outlooks of life brought along by the concept of experimentation, promoted by modernism. Contextually Arnold’s period of writing existed before the beginning of modernism and so acted as a foundation for the following movement. The way in which Dover Beach has been composed leaves the reader with a suspicious feeling as if something is still lingering, a feeling that there is a deeper message showing the reader that there is something to come. He refers to the period in which Sophocles created the movement of tragedy stating, “ Sophocles long ago heard it on the Agaean” using the pronoun ‘it’ to avoid any real description, which suggests a lack of certainty about what he is about to undergo. This confusion of the new modern world is represented through the persona standing on “the cliffs of England” staring out upon the glimmering bay on to the lights of France, awaiting the arrival of philosophies from continental Europe . The poet discusses the confusion endured by man whilst experiencing this movement, lost between the concepts of morality against a new, modern, rational way of thinking: “Swept with confused alarm of struggle and flight, where ignorant armies clash by night”. Arnold states that this decision between old and new is causing the ideologies to conflict and disagree and resulting in the “withdrawing roar” of human faith.

| Posted on 2010-08-28 | by a guest

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you guys can have my GCSE poetry coursework after the exam i wrote 4 a4 pages on this poem

| Posted on 2010-08-28 | by a guest

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Notice the form of the poem. Overlooking the absence of regular iambics, see that the first stanza is comprised of 14 lines and pivots at \"Only.\" Sonnet written all over it--a standard/traditional form coinciding with the mind-dominant (as opposed to spirit-dominant) Renaissance (during which time the attitudes of the ancient Greeks, including Sophocles, were \"reborn.\") The next stanza--Sophocles\' projected tragic vision--is eight lines, followed by the complementary six of the retreating \"Sea of Faith\" third stanza. Something has now broken. With the final nine lines as ignorant armies clash in the darkness, the classical poetic form of the sonnet has devolved into formless chaos. All that\'s left to lean on is a personal commitment to loving another individual, thus the speaker\'s plea. The entire scene is post-coital, it seems to me, the speaker suffering from John Donne-ian \"dying\" but devoid of the rake-preacher\'s wry humor...

| Posted on 2010-08-23 | by a guest

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ya'll just the crazyest peoples dat have eva dun posted anything on dis dur page, i think this poem means you guys are duh dumbdest peoples ave to pud somting on duh pages

| Posted on 2010-04-20 | by a guest

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We believe that the entire poem �Dover Beach� is a symbolization of the author�s pessimistic
feelings towards the way of the world and overall, human suffering. Matthew Arnold uses the relationship between the sea and beaches to demonstrate human conflict. The sea in the beginning is calm, and he writes a beautiful scene of the cliffs of England, and the night air breeze drifting through his window while the moon is up. But later in the first stanza he changes the mood by adding the �grating roar of peddles which the waves draws back, and fling,� perhaps to remark on human nature where all things eventually become violent despite the once calm. He then draws attention to the Greek poet Sophocles, who mirrors his ideas that the mind is like the sea, with turbulent ebbing and flowing, full of unruly and disorganized thoughts. The Sea of Faith is simply a metaphor of human faith, where it was once full and everyone believed, but now that time has passed, like the sea our faiths in the world is retreating until we are simply left with naked shingles, or nothingness. Lastly, the author mentions in the last stanza the �clash by night� of ignorant armies struggling and fighting, comparing the crash of the waves to human war.

| Posted on 2010-04-12 | by a guest

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it means this world is dying and its goin to hell :) tnx to lack of religion ect. idk just a guess i fail when it comes to trying to interpret peoms :D

| Posted on 2010-04-01 | by a guest

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He is saying that a world lacking religious faith is bereft of all things good. Without faith, everything that once seemed beautiful no longer has any meaning.

| Posted on 2010-03-22 | by a guest

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in this poem the poet realises that the sea of faith which was once powerful and which gripped the whole world as a unifying power like a "girdle furled"is now withdrawing and the hold of religion is loosening as they donot have answers to the questions peeple arouse.Science has provided and is providing answers to the questions of the people and so it has pulling them away from their religion.the tone of this poem is melancholic as the words "tremulous cadence""eternal note of sadness" "turbid ebb and flow of human misery"and the "long withdrawing roar"seems to suggest.
IN the last stanza the poet directly addresses his lover as they were a newly married couple saying that while rest of the world falls apart due to this loss of faith,it is unprotected and exposed,we must remain loyal and "true"to one another as everything else is faithless and fake.this world is a "land of dreams where our perceptions of the world are quite different to the real world and so we must make a pact with each other so that we too are not swept away with the tide where people cannot differentiate between friend or foe as they have lost their wisdom and judgement.
the themes of x Time surface.
the figures of speech used in this poem x full,fair
coast,cliff
long,line
which the waves
folds, furled
Paradox: grating roar of the pebbles(conflict between religious beliefs and the challenges against them which they are unable to counter)
Metaphor: turbid ebb and flow of human misery
Simile: The sea of faith lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
World which seems like a land of dreams
Anaphora: So various,so beautiful, so new....
Nor joy,nor love,nor light,nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain.
im in gce o levels and could not understand the earlier part of the poem,but now it semms quite easy.wish me luck.

| Posted on 2010-02-05 | by a guest

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overall view of the poem:
* the movement of the pebbles and waves brings a sad tone to him.
*the persona is in a hotel room looking out the window, and so he calls his beloved to come and join him, or to share the beautiful scece. (the sea is calm)
He first talks about a figurative sea ( a sea of faith).
it was full, and is now in a state of ebb, it is drawing, making horrible sounds. & the explanation given is that the world is full of pain & sunffering.
* the poet presents a very pessimistic view of the world. He states that appearances in this world are deceptive &that we should not be fooled by the brightness of its colors :).
The poem has a sad melancholic tone. The world appears to be like a beautiful place full of dreams, and hopes, it seems very promising, offering endless and new opportunities, but the REALITY of the world is a dreadful place that lacks all the good qualities of joy, love, peace, and certitude.
xoxo

| Posted on 2010-01-24 | by a guest

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This is a poem of a man who is trying to inform the world that it destine for change. a change from religion to science because before this time people used religion as a guide to life and not science. this poem shows how people loose faith do to the knew discovery of science and with that it destroys the values of future generations. he explains how this world is set for destruction with chaos and pain and the only true way to escape this is heaven which is only achieveable through death. he was a man before his time who knew that when science toppled religion it would cause human nature to destroy itself. thus showing us his faith!

| Posted on 2009-12-09 | by a guest

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The main idea of this poem is that the present state of the world is very chaotic, and something must be done to change that if we want a better future. If faith is like the sea, right now it may be receding, but there will come a time when it comes back strongly and until that time, we will have to blindly struggle forward without losing hope.

| Posted on 2009-11-13 | by a guest

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have you evr thought of the fact the the character in this poem was describing his honeymoon with his love? look at the poem again. it makes a lot of sense.

| Posted on 2009-07-26 | by a guest

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Hey guys, and chicks
This poem is about how Arnold is conveying his view that culture has decayed with the waning of religious belief. The poet conveys this message with imagery and language techniques.
Cheers

| Posted on 2009-07-22 | by a guest

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DOVER BEACH
its all about a virtual journey through time.he is lamenting the transition from an age of certainity into an era of erosion of tradition.misery,sadness and meloncholy region most of the poem.he is appealing to humanity for honesty.

| Posted on 2009-05-26 | by a guest

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this dude done dove into da ocean then got scared and jump back out the end dumb people duh

| Posted on 2009-05-14 | by a guest

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the poem is the plead to recognize the significance of the uncertein world we are living in today and gives instances of how the world used to be. It also advices as all to change our ways.

| Posted on 2009-04-30 | by remixnba

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For all you daft people: ARNOLD DID NOT KNOW WW2 WAS GOING TO HAPPEN; This poem pre-dates it. however another battle was faught on the beaches of dover, in which we see references to, so stop saying it was Overloads or apart of the Blitzkrieg or something along those lines.

| Posted on 2009-03-11 | by a guest

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One may argue that this is of love , and of faith although those before were correct. Arnoald uses language metapohircally to demonstrate the religous turmoil of the time, the sea of faiths waves are like an ebb and flow effect, they wash in a out but finally the once powerful ocean (reliogion) is being pushed away by science ,(melacholy long withdrawing roar). It was not about war purely of his deep loss of faith and belief , arnold had grown using religion as a kind of back bone , losing faith was like losing a lover which is probably why people are confused about this. im doing gcse literature but as in literature there really isnt a right or wrong, more of a perception of things as long as its justifiable .

| Posted on 2009-03-04 | by a guest

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I feel since he wrote this poem on his honeymoon, he feels he is loosing faith and has sadness inside of him and he is wondering if his love can be true in a world where it seems so perfect but really has "neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, mor peace, nor help for pain..

| Posted on 2008-06-15 | by a guest

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i really think this is about his life as a person... about everything no one till understand this i think because we did not write it and its not WWII no more...

| Posted on 2008-06-04 | by a guest

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The ignorant armies which clash by night is actually alluded from Thucydides's work The Battle of Epipolae or or the Peloponnese war where the Spartans and Athenians killed eachother without even realizing who was a friend and who was a foe.

| Posted on 2008-04-17 | by a guest

.: faith? :.

How does an agnostic bemoan the lack of faith? And how does everyone ignore the "ignorant armies" of this poem? Forget Darwin, please. The Crimean War, and the Charge of the Light Brigade, in reality and in poetry, had occurred about 15 years earlier. Tennyson was the poet laureate. And his celebration of the ignorant armies, clashing in intellectual darkness, must have weighed heavily upon Arnold. Who certainly didn't worry that Darwin, and the agnosticism of the soldiers, played a

| Posted on 2008-03-22 | by a guest

.: faith :.

Although there has been some debate on here with regards to publishing dates of Darwin's theory in conjunction with Dover Beach, i'd just like to point out the publications of other works addressing genealogy:
I)Jean-Baptiste Lamarak�s 'Philosophie zoologique' (1809)
II)Lyell�s 'Principles of Genealogy' (1830)
essentially, Darwin was deffinatley NOT the first to publish works of this nature, thus Matthew Arnold would be acutley aware of a crisis of faith infatuating Victorian Britain.

| Posted on 2008-03-19 | by a guest

.: RESPONSE TO DARWINISM :.

"In fact this poem was written by Arnold in 1867 and Darwin pubblished his "The origin of Species" in 1859 it means 8 years later. So of course Darwin had an important influence on this poem because it was written nearly a decade after. Ps: before posting a comment please check out the right information and of course DATES!" The poem was published in 1867 but was actually written around 1851. (so it was NOT written nearly a decade later.) However I completely agree that Darwin strong

| Posted on 2008-01-26 | by a guest

.: Dover Beach :.

Please pay attention,dears. This is a nineteenth century poem. Arnold had no way of knowing that Dover Beach would have a prominent role in WWII. But it does add an extra bit of texture for us to know this. However, we all felt optimistic after WWII and this is not an optimistic poem.

Also--girdle did not take on the meaning of underwear until well into the twentieth century. A girdle was a belt or a sash.

But what amazing imagery--darkling plain--ignorant armies clash by night. It has resonated within me for 40 years.

| Posted on 2007-07-17 | by a guest

.: Dover Beach :.

Please pay attention,dears. This is a nineteenth century poem. Arnold had no way of knowing that Dover Beach would have a prominent role in WWII. But it does add an extra bit of texture for us to know this. However, we all felt optimistic after WWII and this is not an optimistic poem.

Also--girdle did not take on the meaning of underwear until well into the twentieth century. A girdle was a belt or a sash.

But what amazing imagery--darkling plain--ignorant armies clash by night. It has resonated within me for 40 years.

| Posted on 2007-07-17 | by a guest

.: Darwinism is not a factor :.

Darwinism is not a factor? Of course it is. In fact this poem was written by Arnold in 1867 and Darwin pubblished his "The origin of Species" in 1859, it means 8 years later. So of course Darwin had an important influence on this poem because it was written nearly a decade after. Besides in the 3 stanza "The Sea Of Faith" is a metaphor for a time when religion could still be experienced without doubt that the modern (Victorian) age brought about through Darwinism, the industrial revolution, imperialism, a crisis in religion.

Ps: before posting a comment please check out the right information and of course DATES!!!!!!

| Posted on 2007-06-30 | by a guest

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This poem is totally not about ketchup in the fridge.
Dover Beach is about Religion and how people these days have no more spiritual values. The "eternal note of sadness" is the cries of human misery in the world. Human misery that everyone has heard over and over again. ("Sophocles heard it long ago.") The world today holds a very pessimistic view. It "Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light/Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;". Think about it.

| Posted on 2007-06-13 | by a guest

.: Carl Harl :.

"well i think this poem is about a certin scenario that we all face in life, its when u look in the fridge and cant find the ketchup, u will stare at the door for like 5 min but u cant find it. We all have experienced this and matthew arnold summed it up for all of us. but that is just my opinion. i like to call it the 'ketchup sindrom" it really is a [censored], you will want it so bad and u will look and look and look but never find it. Then the next day u will look in the fridge for some milk and the god-damn ketchup will be laughing at u" -PeniS

| Posted on 2007-05-24 | by a guest

.: Faith :.

This poem is without a doubt concerned with faith. However, Darwinism is not a factor in the dwindling faith of the time as this poem was written in 1851 and Darwin released his first paper, The origin of Species by means of natural selection, in 1859. That is not to say that Victorian Society was not already experiencing a crisis in faith, in was probably one of the reasons that spurred Darwin onto releasing his paper. I am just saying that Darwin had no influence on this poem as it was written nearly a decade before.

| Posted on 2007-04-25 | by a guest

.: Faith :.

This poem is, unarguably, about a loss of faith. With many new philosophies during the Victorian Era, such as existentialism, materialism, socialism, darwinism, anarchism and a lot more -ism's, a massive stepping down from the Christian faith occured (in Great Britain). Matthew Arnold places the poem in a more existentialist/agnostic view, as he does not question God, but the way people follow God and the decline in what their faith was before the Victorian Era.

What he describes in Dover Beach, the seemingly peaceful Sea of Faith, only serves to compare his real view of the church. Historically, during the Victorian Era, the Anglican Church became what some would call a "decorated coffin". People would go to service because it was a tradition, or a habit- one of the original reasons the Anglican church had trouble with the Catholics (as the Catholics were more prone to this, and the Anglicans supported more "liberal" ideas at the time). What Arnold sees is a dead church and a reality in which there is nothing to look forward to.

~EZS

| Posted on 2007-04-11 | by a guest

.: Faith :.

This poem is, unarguably, about a loss of faith. With many new philosophies during the Victorian Era, such as existentialism, materialism, socialism, darwinism, anarchism and a lot more -ism's, a massive stepping down from the Christian faith occured (in Great Britain). Matthew Arnold places the poem in a more existentialist/agnostic view, as he does not question God, but the way people follow God and the decline in what their faith was before the Victorian Era.

What he describes in Dover Beach, the seemingly peaceful Sea of Faith, only serves to compare his real view of the church. Historically, during the Victorian Era, the Anglican Church became what some would call a "decorated coffin". People would go to service because it was a tradition, or a habit- one of the original reasons the Anglican church had trouble with the Catholics (as the Catholics were more prone to this, and the Anglicans supported more "liberal" ideas at the time). What Arnold sees is a dead church and a reality in which there is nothing to look forward to.

~EZS

| Posted on 2007-04-11 | by a guest

.: Definitely Faith :.

the poem is definitely describing faith, it is much more prominent a theme than love. he sees the need for God dwindling among the world as in himself, but i think that he realizes that he should have more faith, cause w/out it we are all lost. in an attempt to give substance to his life, he clings to what he loves, hoping that it will be enough. i dont think it ever would be, nothing can replace faith in a greater God, not even mortal love. just my thoughts...

| Posted on 2007-01-30 | by a guest

.: Faith :.

I honestly believe that Arnold is talking about how the question of faith has left the world in darkness. In the beginning of the poem, he expresses how calm averything seems, and it's like any other night. However, as the poem progresses, he mentions how Sophocles heard the sadness in the Aegean sea, just as he was hearing the sadness in his own sea. In mentioning the Sea of Faith, he reveals that while it looks calm and normal on the surface, really, the sea is singing a song of sadness and despair. during this time, people began questioning religion and turning to Darwinism. Arnold is expressing how people used to not think twice about what they believed, but now the world was unsure. In telling his love to stay true to him, he is hoping that at least one thing in the world will remain the same and true. To him, the world was left in darkness by the threat against faith.

| Posted on 2006-04-20 | by Approved Guest

.: harl karl :.

well i think this poem is about a certin scenario that we all face in life, its when u look in the fridge and cant find the ketchup, u will stare at the door for like 5 min but u cant find it. We all have experienced this and matthew arnold summed it up for all of us. but that is just my opinion. i like to call it the 'ketchup sindrom" it really is a [censored], you will want it so bad and u will look and look and look but never find it. Then the next day u will look in the fridge for some milk and the god-damn ketchup will be laughing at u

| Posted on 2006-04-09 | by Approved Guest

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To the person who believed that "Dover Beach" was about D-Day: Matthew Arnold died in 1866, far before the beginning of WWII. Kudos to the people who wrote about the "lack of faith" theme. Arnold himself was an agnostic, which supports the hypothesis that his theme in "Dover Beach" is that the lack of faith in the world leads to ignorant conflict of the mind and of differing beliefs. The speaker is beckoning a woman to come to the window, where he is, so that she also can view the scene which he believes portrays a lack of faith.

| Posted on 2006-04-03 | by Approved Guest

.: Theme :.

Mathew Arnold portrays a number of ideas in Dover Beach including the beauty of the coast, his sense of randomness of human existence, reality and one of the key ones being faith. Arnold uses language features very effectively to out across these themes to his reader.

The most important idea which Arnold tries to put across in Dover Beach is faith and how this has changed amongst people. A continued metaphor is used to contrast the Sea with faith, the imagery of tides coming in and going represent the lack of commitment which people have. More and more doubts would have been brought about amongst people through things such as Science and Darwinism in the period which the poem was written.
�The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth�s shore�

Not sure, only 17 read it at school so dont use it if you doing a coursework or exam... no sure if its right. BHAVDEEP

| Posted on 2006-03-09 | by Approved Guest

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I completely disagree. We have been analyzing this poem in class and it's got the underlying theme of faith more than love. There are numerous hints to this, including the specific phrase, "the Sea of Faith". The sea in this poem represents our sad eternity, and the pebbles and "naked shingles of the world" represent people and their significance on Earth. This man understands that faith has been dwindling significantly in the recent past and realizes that we have become increasingly despondent due to this,having no choice but to turn to love, as he himself has done, and cling to another in hopes of survival.

| Posted on 2006-03-02 | by Approved Guest

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In th poem dover beach, the poet uses conflicting imagery to give meaning to the poem.The differences in the way that th poet sees the relationship between the beach and the sea and the way that most people would see it becomes more pronounced as the poem developes. He also uses the change in attitude from the first stanza to the last to emphasize his message.The poem starts with the normalimage one would expect of a beach and a peaceful moonlit night, but by the end of the first stanza the sea is no longer peaceful and calm.He took the meaning of tranquilty and changed it into a depressing scene.The stanza ends with the eternal note of sadness being brought in by the sea.He is comparing the sea to the sum of all human troubles.The sea is eternal just like human sufferings is eternal. When he talks about Sophocles and the Aegean he is reinforcing the idea of the sea being the bearer of misery, he is saying that the nature of life does not change.Their was suffering in the time of the greeks,suffering in his time and their will be suffering after he is gone.Misery and suffering will always be present in the world and their is no explanation for them.All in all a little bit of a depressing poem;the idea that suffering is eternal just as the sea is.

| Posted on 2006-03-01 | by Approved Guest

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It's about a mans love. Special attention to a setting shows it sways back and forth from perhaps love to hate in contrinual cycle. Sophocles in antigone described the water crashing to the shore and slowly, gently, eroding back. Pebbles flying shows the the impact is hard but as it recends everything is great again. He's definitely in love. The eternal note of sadness may be because he knows it can't stay perfect forever. There'll be another crashing wave to hit shore. For anyone who's broken up or stayed angry at someone they really liked it feels horrible, and it's a miserable time.

| Posted on 2006-02-26 | by Approved Guest