What is the form of the poem Dover Beach?
“Dover Beach” is neither free nor strictly formal verse. Its form appears, shifts, and disappears, much like the lines that the waves make on a beach and like the faith that Arnold laments. Although troubled and uncertain, “Dover Beach” is also mysteriously quiet and slow. Listen to the first lines: “The sea is calm tonight./
When was Dover Beach by Richard Bowker written?
This article is about the poem. For the novel by Richard Bowker, see Dover Beach (novel). " Dover Beach " is a lyric poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold. It was first published in 1867 in the collection New Poems; however, surviving notes indicate its composition may have begun as early as 1849. The most likely date is 1851.
What is the meaning of Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold?
“Dover Beach” is a poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold, written in 1851 and expressing the Victorian uncertainty that came from changing attitudes towards science and God.
What is the loss of faith in the poem Dover Beach?
The loss of faith causes the minds to be in a condition between belief and disbelief. The lines from “Dover Beach” give a sharp expression of Arnold’s loss of faith and his increasing hopelessness. For Arnold, this world is strangely unreal. There is nothing real to hold tightly and be hopeful.
Is the Dover Beach is blank verse or free verse?
“Dover Beach” is not free verse, because it makes routine use of rhyme. Free verse describes poetry that neither rhymes nor possess a regular meter.
What type of verse is Dover Beach?
"Dover Beach" is a lyric poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold. It was first published in 1867 in the collection New Poems; however, surviving notes indicate its composition may have begun as early as 1849. The most likely date is 1851.
What form of poetry is Dover Beach?
"Dover Beach" is a melancholic poem. Matthew Arnold uses the means of 'pathetic fallacy', when he attributes or rather projects the human feeling of sadness onto an inanimate object like the sea. At the same time he creates a feeling of 'pathos'.
Is Dover Beach written in iambic pentameter?
Irregular Iambic Pentameter and Complex, Variable Rhymes.
What is a free verse poem?
Nonmetrical, nonrhyming lines that closely follow the natural rhythms of speech. A regular pattern of sound or rhythm may emerge in free-verse lines, but the poet does not adhere to a metrical plan in their composition.
Is discuss Dover Beach an elegy?
Matthew Arnold's (1822-1888) best-known poem, Dover Beach (1867) is a masterpiece of mood , both a love poem and an elegy. Though published in his 1867 volume New Poems, Dover Beach may have been composed as early as 1851, when Arnold honeymooned at Dover. The sea is used as both an image and a metaphor.
What literary device are used in Dover Beach?
Some of the literary devices used in "Dover Beach" are personification, metaphor, simile, and repetition.
What literary techniques are used in Dover Beach and how are they used?
Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Such as, “The tide is full, the moon lies fair”; “Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling” and “Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land.”
Is Dover Beach a dramatic monologue?
“Dover Beach” is a dramatic monologue of thirty-seven lines, divided into four unequal sections or “paragraphs” of fourteen, six, eight, and nine lines.
What is the rhyme scheme of the poem Dover Beach?
The rhyme scheme of "Dover Beach" is not fixed, so in that sense, it has no rhyme scheme. However, tracking the irregular end rhymes reveals that the first stanza is abacdbdcefcgfg, the second is hihjij, the third is kelmenml, and the fourth and final stanza is oppoaqqaa.
What meter is Dover Beach written in?
The basic meter of this poem is iambic, meaning it has a consistent group of two syllables, where the second syllable is stressed and the first is not. Most of the poem follows along with iambic form, but some do not.
What is the tone of Dover Beach poem?
Matthew Arnold was an English poet and cultural critic who considered poetry to be a “Criticism of Life”. The tone of “Dover Beach” is predominantly melancholic and to a certain extent even tragic. The predominant mood of despair and gloom pervades throughout the poem.
What is the meaning of the poem "Dover Beach"?
Employing one of Arnold’s favored metaphors between life and the sea, the poem contrast s the beauty of the moonlit seashore to the angst and uncertainty of life. A sentimental longing for the past and an anxiety about the rapidly changing world characterized much of Victorian literature and thought. Arnold’s ability to evoke feelings of isolation, loneliness, and fear of the future accounts for the power of the poem and the reason why scholars believe that it is one of the best works from the Victorian Era.
What does the speaker say in the opening lines of the third stanza?
In the opening lines of the third stanza, the speaker addresses his companion directly. He beseeches her that they must comfort each other, be faithful to one another. Only the loyalty and comfort of personal relationships can fill the void produced by the disappearing faith in God.
What is the sea of faith?
The “Sea of Faith” is a metaphor for the faith in God that comforted humankind in earlier periods. Like the ocean at high tide, which surrounds the land, faith, the poem implies, used to permeate people’s lives. The context of the poem suggests that faith provided meaning and comfort in past ages. However, the “Sea of Faith” has receded like the ebb of the waves. Here Arnold employs such words as “melancholy,” “withdrawing roar,” “retreating,” “drear,” and “naked” to convey a sense of loss and despair, and he uses images of the sea, which he did not employ in the description of the shoreline that opens the poem. The sea is no longer calm, the night air sweet, and the shoreline glimmering in the moonlight. Now the waves roar and the wind blows down the dark and naked shoreline.
How does Arnold describe the seashore?
Arnold begins the poem with a conventional description of the seashore in the moonlight. The speaker is standing at a window overlooking a stretch of beach in the south of England, near Dover. From there he can see across the English Channel to the French coast just 20 miles away. The moon is full and illuminates the English cliffs standing at the edge of the sea. Arnold writes, “the tide is full,” which seems to imply that the tide is high. The speaker describes this scene to someone else in the room and in Line 6 calls to his companion to join him at the window. In these first six lines Arnold presents a beautiful and tranquil scene. He uses words like “calm,” “fair,” “stand,” and “sweet” to establish this mood.
What is the meaning of the poem "Dover Beach"?
Word Count: 420. “Dover Beach” is a poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold, written in 1851 and expressing the Victorian uncertainty that came from changing attitudes towards science and God. The speaker stands on the titular beach and describes the “calm” sea and the pebbled shore. The night air is “sweet,” but he is conscious of a note ...
Where is the poem "Dover Beach" set?
Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” is a poem set near Dover, along the southeast coast of England, where Arnold and his new wife spent their honeymoon in 1851. It is believed that the poet wrote the early draft of “Dover Beach” while here, overlooking the English Channel toward the coast of France, about twenty-six miles away.
Who is the silent listener in the poem "Dover Beach"?
In his “Dover Bitch: A Criticism of Life” (1996), Hecht focuses on the silent listener in Arnold’s poem, developing her character as a woman who is definitely not the speaker’s wife, and identifying the persona in his poem as someone who knew Arnold, the speaker in “Dover Beach. ”.
How long did it take Darwin to write Darwin Beach?
By 1851, when “Dover Beach” was probably written, Charles Darwin, Alfred Russell Wallace, and other scientists had already theorized the essentials of evolution, but it would take Darwin another eight years to publish his findings.
When was Dover Beach written?
For the novel by Richard Bowker, see Dover Beach (novel). " Dover Beach " is a lyric poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold. It was first published in 1867 in the collection New Poems; however, surviving notes indicate its composition may have begun as early as 1849. The most likely date is 1851. The title, locale and subject ...
What does Arnold hear in the third stanza of The Sea?
Arnold looks at two aspects of this scene, its soundscape (in the first and second stanzas) and the retreating action of the tide (in the third stanza). He hears the sound of the sea as "the eternal note of sadness".
Who wrote the poem "Sea of Faith"?
Sea of Faith by John Brehm, a collection of poems [The University of Wisconsin Press, 2004] (and the title of the eponymous poem, which begins "Once when I was teaching 'Dover Beach'". Dover Beach by Billy Collins.
What is the meaning of the poem "Dover Beach"?
“Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold is a dramatic monologue lamenting the loss of true Christian faith in England during the mid 1800s as science captured the minds of the public. The poet’s speaker, considered to be Matthew Arnold himself, begins by describing a calm and quiet sea out in the English Channel. He stands on the Dover coast and looks across to France where a small light can be seen briefly, and then vanishes. This light represents the diminishing faith of the English people, and those the world around. Throughout this poem the speaker/Arnold crafts an image of the sea receding and returning to land with the faith of the world as it changes throughout time. At this point in time though, the sea is not returning. It is receding farther out into the strait.
How many lines are there in Dover Beach?
This piece is made up of four stanzas containing a variable number of lines. They range in length from fourteen to six lines in length. There is no consistent rhyme scheme but there are a number of random end rhymes such as “-and” ...
What is the eternal note of sadness in the poem "Dover Beach"?
The eternal note of sadness in. Arnold begins ‘Dover Beach’ by giving a description of the setting in which it is taking place. It is clear from the title, although never explicitly stated in the poem, that the beach in question is Dover, on the coast of England. The sea is said to be calm, there is a beach on the water at full tide.
Where is the beach in the poem "Come to the window sweet is the night air"?
It is clear from the title, although never explicitly stated in the poem, that the beach in question is Dover, on the coast of England.
Is the sea calm?
The sea is said to be calm, there is a beach on the water at full tide. The moon “lies fair,” lovely, “upon the straits” (a strait is a narrow passage of water such as the English Channel onto which Dover Beach abuts).
What does the sound of the sea mean in Dover Beach?
In “Dover Beach,” the sound of the sea reminds the speaker of “ebb and flow of human misery.” The speaker draws a metaphorical contrast between the days of belief of the past and the skeptical days of the present age. Earlier, the “Sea of Faith” was “calm,” “full” of the tide, and the “moon lies fair” on it. It provided hope and certainty to man. At the present time, that sea is “withdrawing” and “retreating.” Such a sea is exposing the edges of the world. It is the negative effect of the loss of faith. The boundaries of the world are now without the beautiful and bright covering that the sea provided once. The world is no longer enveloped in beauty. It is no longer protected.
How many lines are in the poem "Dover Beach"?
There are four stanzas in “Dover Beach” with different lengths. The first stanza is made of fourteen lines, the second is six, the third is eight and the fourth is made of nine lines.
What does the speaker stand on the coast?
The speaker stands on the coast to enjoy the calmness of the sea and moonlit night. Here, the speaker goes through the mood of sensory awareness. The quiet sea shows harmony, balance, and stability. The speaker mentions a strait which refers to the Strait of Dover between the English Channel and the North Sea.
What is the meaning of the lines from "Dover Beach"?
The lines from “Dover Beach” give a sharp expression of Arnold’s loss of faith and his increasing hopelessness.
What is the theme of the poem "Dover Beach"?
It leads people away from what was once important to them. This poem studies modernization against faith. Faith is less a specific religious sentiment and more a focus on the power of humans to find their true selves through nature.
Who is the speaker of Dover Beach?
Speaker. The speaker of “Dover Beach” is thought to be Mathew Arnold himself. This poem is a dramatic monologue; therefore, it is considered as an expression of Arnold’s thoughts. The speaker of the poem is lamenting over the loss of faith in religion and God.
Who is the speaker of the sound of the waves?
This is an allusion to Sophocles, a famous Greek tragic poet. The gloomy and tedious sound of the waves reminds the speaker of Sophocles. Sophocles observed the misery in the life of human beings when he heard the dejected sound of the waves of the Aegean Sea.
What is the meaning of Dover Beach?
This is a poem about a sea and a beach that is truly beautiful, but holds much deeper meaning than what meets the eye. The poem is written in free verse with no particular meter or rhyme scheme, although some of the words do rhyme. Arnold is the speaker speaking to someone he loves.
What is the poem "When the sea retreats, so does faith, and leaves us with nothing" based on
The whole poem is based on a metaphor – Sea to Faith. When the sea retreats, so does faith, and leaves us with nothing. In the last nine lines, Arnold wants his love and himself to be true to one another. The land, which he thought was so beautiful and new, is actually nothing – “neither joy, nor love, nor light”.
What does Arnold say in the poem "The Sea is calm tonight"?
In lines 1-6 he is talking about a very peaceful night on the ever so calm sea, ...
What does Arnold mean by "neither joy nor love nor light"?
In reality, Arnold is expressing that nothing is certain, because where there is light there is dark and where there is happiness there is sadness.
Is the repetition of the letter T in the poem "Dover Beach"?
The usage of assonance and consonance is not widespread in “Dover Beach”. In line 3 – “…on the French coast the light” – the repetition of the letter T is shown, as an example of consonance. Other literary techniques, such as onomatopoeia and hyperbole, are not used in the poem, besides the metaphor for “Faith” being the Sea.
Author Biography
- Arnold was born in 1822, the eldest son of Mary Penrose Arnold and Dr. Thomas Arnold. His father was an influential educator who, in 1828, became headmaster of Rugby School, where Arnold received his early education. When Arnold was a child, his family would take summer holidays in the Lake District, where they became friends with the noted Romantic poets Robert S…
Poem Summary
- Lines 1-6
Arnold begins the poem with a conventional description of the seashore in the moonlight. The speaker is standing at a window overlooking a stretch of beach in the south of England, near Dover. From there he can see across the English Channelto the French coast just 20 miles away… - Lines 7-8
Lines 7 and 8 mark a transition in the stanza. The phrase “long line of spray,” which describes what results when the sea meets the land, introduces action and perhaps even contention in the poem.
Themes
- Nature and Its Meaning
Prior to the Victorian Era, Wordsworth and his fellow Romantic poets perceived in nature proof of a benign supernatural order, a cosmic design—whether Christian or pagan—that not only included man but was also sympathetic to him. To these poets, man’s spiritual unease was the result of h… - Topics for Further Study
1. Compare the ideas expressed here with those in William Wordsworth’s “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey,” also included in Poetry For Students.What conclusions does each speaker draw as a result of his observation of nature? How do these conclusions reflect differin…
Style
- Matthew Arnold is one of the first poets to experiment with free verse and “Dover Beach” is written in this form. Free verse is a form of poetry in which meter is not used to structure the verse. Instead cadence, syntax, and images play an important role. There are no set number of syllables per line nor a regular rhythmic pattern. A poem written i...
Historical Context
- In his preface to Poems,published in 1853, Arnold described his age as one of “bewildering confusion” and “spiritual discomfort.” To those living in England in the mid-nineteenth century, the religious skepticism addressed in “Dover Beach” was more than a personal matter to be hashed out in the privacy of one’s own soul; it was greater, indeed, than a philosophical controversy bet…
Critical Overview
- “Dover Beach” is often referred to as the first modern poem. In his Babel to Byzantium: Poets and Poetry Now, James Dickey argues that the poem deserves this distinction not because of its unusual free verse style but rather on the basis of its subject matter. Dickey states that the “psychological orientation” of the poem, the malaise of modern society as science replaces relig…
Criticism
- Derek Furr
Derek Furr is a freelance writer and has taught composition and literature courses at the University of Virginiaand at Virginia Commonwealth University. In the following essay, Furr discusses - What Do I Read Next?
1. The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selectionby Charles Darwin: This reprint of the 1872 edition is an important source in any cultural study of the Victorian Age. 2. The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin:Darwin’s letters contain many reflections about the impact of his work both on hi…
Sources
- Allott, Miriam, “Matthew Arnold: ‘All One and Continuous,’” in The Victorian Experience: The Poets,edited by Richard A. Levine, Ohio University Press, 1982, pp. 67-93. Darwin, Charles, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,D. Appleton and Company, 1892. Darwin, Charles The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin,edited by Francis Darwin, D. Appleton, 1896. Dickey, Jam…
For Further Study
- Altick, Richard D., Victorian People and Ideas, New York: Norton, 1973. Neiman, Fraser, Matthew Arnold, New York: Twain, 1968. Trilling, Lionel, Matthew Arnold, New York: Columbia UniversityPress, 1949.
Overview
"Dover Beach" is a lyric poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold. It was first published in 1867 in the collection New Poems; however, surviving notes indicate its composition may have begun as early as 1849. The most likely date is 1851.
The title, locale and subject of the poem's descriptive opening lines is the shore of the English ferry port of Dover, in Kent, facing Calais, in France, at the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part (21 …
Analysis
In Stefan Collini's opinion, "Dover Beach" is a difficult poem to analyze, and some of its passages and metaphors have become so well known that they are hard to see with "fresh eyes". Arnold begins with a naturalistic and detailed nightscape of the beach at Dover in which auditory imagery plays a significant role ("Listen! you hear the grating roar"). The beach, however, is bare, with only a hint of humanity in a light that "gleams and is gone". Reflecting the traditional notion that the p…
Composition
According to Tinker and Lowry, "a draft of the first twenty-eight lines of the poem" was written in pencil "on the back of a folded sheet of paper containing notes on the career of Empedocles". Allott concludes that the notes are probably from around 1849–50. "Empedocles on Etna", again according to Allott, was probably written 1849–52; the notes on Empedocles are likely to be contemporary with the writing of that poem.
Influence
William Butler Yeats responds directly to Arnold's pessimism in his four-line poem "The Nineteenth Century and After" (1929):
Though the great song return no more There's keen delight in what we have: The rattle of pebbles on the shore Under the receding wave.
Anthony Hecht, United States Poet Laureate in the early 1980s, replied to "Dover Beach" in his poe…
Notes
1. ^ Rosenblatt, Roger (14 January 1985). "Where Is Our Dover Beach?". Time article. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007. a brief poem that eventually would be remembered by many more people than would remember the Great Exhibition, indeed would become the most anthologized poem in English
2. ^ Allott, 1965, p. 240.
External links
• Poem text
• Works related to Dover Beach at Wikisource
• Dover Beach public domain audiobook at LibriVox