Dover+Beach

=Dover Beach=

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 high strand, Begin, and cease, and then again begin, With tremulous cadence slow, and bring The eternal note of sadness in.

Heard it on the Aegean, 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.
 * Sophocles long ago**

Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore Lay like the folds 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.
 * The Sea of Faith**

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.
 * Ah, love, let us be true**

//__Background on Matthew Arnold__//
Remembered for his elegant critical essays, Matthew Arnold was also a noteworthy poet. He earned much praise at the Rugby School for his poetry; his father, Thomas Arnold, was a respected head master there. Arnold would later return to Rugby school to become a teacher of the classics, after receiving his degree from Oxford. "Dover Beach" is said to link the issues with isolationism and the dwindling faith of society at the time. He tried to show that people coming together would preserve faith in religion and therefore preserve a way of life. He was known to also doubt religion at multiple points during his life. In most of his essays he "sought to establish the essential truth of Christianity."

//__Analysis of the Poem__//
__Extreme loss of unified faith that men once shared.__
 * THEME:**
 * A part of culture has been lost over time
 * Alludes to the harsh reality of life
 * Eternal conflict between the head and the heart

__Man and the natural world trying to work together cohesively.__
 * Philosophical thoughts that are rooted in the natural world
 * Big ideas of the worlds history and future are pondered throughout the poem

__Allusion__ __Imagery__ __Symbols__
 * FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:**
 * Talks about Sophocles
 * Alludes to different stories
 * "Sophocles long ago / Heard it on the Aegean
 * "The sea is calm tonight"
 * "The tide is full"
 * Paints a picture of what the beach looks like
 * Night is repeatedly used as a symbol throughout the poem
 * Gives off an ominous tone
 * Desolation and fear

The poem overall follows iambic pentameter, making it a unique poem. There is some rhyming throughout, but the poem is overall free verse. There are a total of seven sentences in "Dover Beach," and
 * METER:**

__Tone__ Critical Considers life to be constantly changing and the way of man to be evolving. People are left to make it through life on their own and make a path for themselves.
 * EMOTION:**

__Mood__ Ominous, somber, critical, thoughtful The speaker is considering life and the meaning behind everything.

code "Dover Beach." //Shmoop//, Shmoop University, 2017, www.shmoop.com/dover-beach/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2017. code code "Dover Beach Themes." //eNotes//, eNotes.com, Inc., 2017, www.enotes.com/topics/dover-beach/themes. Accessed 23 Mar. 2017. code
 * SOURCES:**