Dover Beach

1. Dover Beach Matthew Arnold

2. Table of Contents • Author’s Biography • Structure • Analysis • Diction and Tone • Quiz

3. Author’s Biography Matthew Arnold was born in Laleham, England on December 24, 1822. He is known as a poet, critic, and educator. “Dover Beach” and “The Scholar Gipsy” are some of his most popular poems. Arnold wrote “Dover Beach” in 1851 during his honeymoon with his wife, Fanny Lucy Wightman. They had six children – three of which died in their childhood. Arnold died at the age of 66 in 1888 while walking with his wife to go pick up their daughter. Matthew Arnold

4. Structure • Lyric – subjective and reflective poetry • Basic iambic pattern • Four stanzas that total up to 37 lines • 1st stanza consists of 14 lines • 2nd stanza consists of 6 lines (sestet) • 3rd stanza consists of 8 lines (octet) • 4th stanza consists of 9 lines • No apparent rhyme scheme • Except for the last stanza, which is abbacddcc

5. Analysis Enjambment - continuation of a phrase into the next The water reflects the image of the moon. 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 pebbleswhich the waves draw back, and fling, At their return, up the high strand, Begin, and cease, and then again begin, With tremulouscadence slow, and bring The eternal note of sadness in. Foreshadows the light of faith in God and religion; once was strong, but now flickers Eroding limestone cliffs develop the theme of a weakening of the light of faith. Alliteration - repetition of a sound at the beginning of words in a series Conflict between sea and land; long-held religious beliefs and the challenges against them. Personification – giving human qualities to something non-human Assonance – repetition of vowel sounds in a series of words straits – narrow body of water that connects two larger bodies of water moon-blanched – whitened by the light of the moon grating – sounding harsh and unpleasant fling – throw strand – shoreline cease – come to an end tremulous – shaking or quivering slightly

6. Enjambment 1st stanza is the present as the 2nd stanza is a reference to the past. Allusion to Sophocles’ plays that were filled with human suffering ℓ14 “The eternal note of sadness...” Even back then, there was pain and tragedy. Sophocles thought the world was a miserable place. Sophocles long ago Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought Into his mind the turbidebb and flow Of human misery; we Find also in the sound a thought, Hearing it by this distant northern sea. The poet hears a thought that disturbs him, like the one heard by Sophocles. Sophocles – playwright; one of the Greek tradegians Aegean – the sea between Greece and Turkey; known as Anatolia in Sophocles’ time turbid – muddy, cloudy ebb – tide movement

7. Enjambment Time when faith, in religion or humanity, was being questioned. The loss of people’s faith in God and religion. The Sea of Faith 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. I alone hear Faith wrapped around us, protecting us from despair, as the sea wraps itself around the continents. girdle – sash, belt; anything that surrounds or encircles melancholy – a feeling of extreme sadness, typically with no obvious cause shingles – pebbled beaches

8. Enjambment Arnold writes that the world will not be true to him and asks his wife not to change, like the world has. The world has become a selfish, cynical, materialistic battlefield. There is much hatred and pain. 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. It is making a reference to the Peloponnesian War, which is an ancient battle that occurred on a similar beach. Since it was night time, the armies ended up killing their own people. darkling – dark, obscure, dim; occurring in darkness; menacing, threatening, dangerous, ominous

9. It is so quiet that "you hear the grating roar of pebbles which the waves draw back and fling" (lines 6-10). These lines tell the reader that the mood is very calm. Diction and Tone 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. But the mood doesn't really stay the same. In musical terms, the speaker describes the mood as a cadence – a sequence of notes or chords. He says "tremulous cadence slow" bringing "the eternal note of sadness" (lines 13-14) The mood changes from tranquility to sadness.

10. Just like the past is filled with sadness, so the present is also like a wave, flowing back and forth. Sophocles long ago 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. The Sea of Faith 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. This illustrates that sadness is hard to escape, even when in a place that is supposed to be tranquil.

11. In the last stanza of the poem, the speaker seems as if he is holding a conversation with someone. He is not alone on the beach as it seems in the previous stanzas. 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. Unlike the beginning of the poem, where sadness prevails and the past brings back unhappy memories, the speaker has a happier outlook for the future. He hopes that everything will be like new.

12. Quiz • What was Arnold doing when he wrote this poem? • What type of poem is this? • Does the tone stay the same throughout the poem? • The second stanza is a reference to the _____. • What is the rhyme scheme for the last stanza? • In the last stanza, what does Arnold ask of his wife? • The first stanza is written in the _____. • How many times does Arnold use enjambment? • In the first stanza, how is personification being used? • What are the two poems Arnold is most famous?