Analysis of Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach
The declining and fragile state of the world is the central focus of"Dover Beach." The poem, written by Matthew Arnold, is from the Victorianera. The poet focuses on the theme of man's declining condition duringthis era by emphasizing the weakening state of religion and, as a result,places hope in our love for one another. The structure of the poem is central to its meaning. Man's decliningstate is expressed through what appears to be with reality. Critic JohnFain states that the theme of the poem is the "terrible incompatibilitybetween illusion and reality" (Fain 41) and the poet's "visual imagery toexpress illusion and auditory imagery to express reality" (41) supportsthis theme. Fain observes that the poem begins with a mood of peace andserenity. However, this illusion is broken by "the grating roar/Ofpebbles" (Arnold 9-10). Fain asserts that in this passage, "sound is morereal than sight" (Fain 41). The contrast that the poet is expressing dealswith the changes he sees in the world around him. The calm sea, the fulltide, and the moon he witnesses in the tranquil bay lasts but only a fewseconds before his mind is called away from the peaceful scene by the roar
es bring with them an "eternal note of sadness"(Arnold 14). Finally, the poet does not exactly end on a hopeful note. Furthermore, we are "here as on a darkling plain/Swept withconfused alarms of struggle and flight" (33-4). Thisnotion is merely just a memory for the poet, for now he can only hear thesea's: melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, Retreating, to the breath Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear And naked shingles of the world (26-9). Likewise, in the third stanza of the poem, theimages that seem "to lie before us like a land of dreams" (Arnold 31) areoverwhelmed by the sound of the armies that "clash by night" (37). This reflection can be seen when the poet writes that though theworld my be beautiful it "Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,/Norcertitude, nor peace, nor help for pain" (Arnold 33-4). While there seems to be nohope, we do still have each other, which is something that becomes anecessity by the end of the poem. The poet also focuses on man's lackof religion, which is, at least in part, responsible for the current stateof mankind. In addition, Wayne Schow contends that the poet, "constructed thegrammar of his lines to echo Romans and, through the contrast of the evokedcontexts, attempted to intensify the pathos of the modern condition"(Schow). Fain states,"Sights fade, but sounds, being sequences, keep on going" (Fain 41). This sadness is nothing new, the poet realizes as he recallsthat Sophocles heard the very sound long ago. Fain'sassertion supports the theme of the poem that the condition of man isslowly slipping away. Schow contendsthat the cadence of this passage mirrors the cadence of Romans 8:38-9. Clearly, this poem does not end on a cheerful note. To conclude, "Dover Beach" is the poet's sad commentary on the conditionof the world.
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