Analysis: Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)

The poem “Dover Beach” written by Matthew Arnold is about a human misery.
Nature especially the sea is used in order to draw a comparison between the fights of nature and the human misery.
The poem consists of four stanzas which have a different amount of lines. The first stanza consists of 14 lines, the second of six, the third of eight and the last line of nine lines. The rhyme scheme is very irregular. For example, in the first eight lines of the poem it is abacdbdc.

The first stanza can be divided into two parts. In the first part (line one to line six) the lyrical I describes the motions of the sea in a very positive way. The words “to-night” (l. 1), “moon” (l.2) and “night-air” (l.6) show that it is night. To create a very harmonious mood the poet utilizes adjectives such as “fair”, “tranquil” and “calm”. Matthew Arnold uses an anaphora (“Gleams” and “Glimmering” l.4/5), to underline the harmonious atmosphere of the first six lines. The word “only” in line seven can be seen as a caesura. After line seven the harmonious mood of the first lines is changing into a sad mood. The word sea is personified by the verb “meets” in line seven. The personification and the expression “moon-blanched land” create a mystic atmosphere. With the words of sound “listen”, “hear” and “roar” in line nine Arnold wants to activate the reader”s perception of senses to involve him in his poem. Also, he involves the readership by using the imperatives “come” and “listen”. The verbs “begin” “cease” and “again begin” show that the pebbles” motions are a never ending movement. By using the words “sadness” and “tremulous” the pebbles” motions are illustrated in a woeful and threatening way.
The first stanza can be seen as a description of a present status, whereas the second stanza is a reference to the past. In the second stanza the poet uses “Sophocles”, an ancient Greek philosopher, to show that the people for a long time thought about a comparison between sea and human misery. The verb “hear” in line 16 and in line 20 can be regarded as a connection to the words of acoustic perception in the first stanza. The expression “distant northern sea” is another connecting element between the both stanzas. By mentioning the countries England and France the first stanza is talking about the northern sea. The main topic of the first stanza is the motion of sea. The reader can only guess that it refers to human misery, but the second stanza talks about to the human misery in line 18.
The third stanza abstracts the image of the sea and uses it as a metaphor (“sea of faith”) to show that “once” (l.22) humanity was more religious. The metaphor of “bright girdle furled” emphasizes that faith was inseparable to earth. The words “But now” in line 24 are a caesura. The first three lines of the stanza create a feeling of hope, whereas the last lines sound sad and hopeless.
The word “only” show that the lyrical I feels only the sadness of the world. To amplify the negative mood of the last lines Arnold utilizes words such as “melancholy”, “drear” and “naked”.

The last stanza refers to the misery of humanity and can be seen as a conclusion of the preceding stanzas. The lyrical I compares the world to a “land of dreams” which is “various” “beautiful” and “new”. This means that the world and the people who live on it might be happy and live together in peace. To underline the positive mood, the lyrical I uses the word “love” at the beginning of the stanza. The verb “seems” shows that it is only a dream or an illusion of the lyrical I which can never become reality.
Line 33 is a caesura, wherefrom the lyrical I describes his real life. The enumeration in line 33 and 34 “”nor love, nor light, nor peace”" shows the cruelness of the world. The plural form “us” and “we” illustrates that not only the lyrical I but also many other people feel the cruelness. The words “sweep” and “clash by night” both together form an allusion to the preceding stanzas. The motions of the sea are used to clarify the bad relations between other people.
The poem illustrates the contrast between hope and reality. There are many caesuras in the poem, which definitely show the changing mood of the lyrical I. It wishes a peaceful world, but it also knows that it is almost impossible.
Maybe Matthew Arnold refers to the industrial revolution which was a big change of life for everybody. Many people were very unhappy with their new life.

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.

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.