There is No Certainty in Dover Beach How can life or anything be so wonderful, but at times seem so unbearable? This is a question that Matthew Arnold may have asked himself one day, while writing Dover Beach. This is a poem about a sea and a beach that is truly beautiful, but hold 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. As the
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 crash by night.” (Arnold 1867) After reading the poem "Dover Beach" written by Matthew Arnold, I Think the main theme for this poem is being in on the sea in the night. What
the poem, almost making it the main character. The next five lines are full of vivid sense imagery of the setting, including the visual: Upon the straits; o... ... middle of paper ... ...(ll. 35-37) The poem ends in a warning. The darkening plain is the world getting harder to understand, any possible truths getting harder to see. If we choose to fight in that darkness, believing that we can see anything at all – be they false truths of science, religion, or even love, then were are the ignorant
Contrasting Worlds in Dover Beach and Quiet Work Tree Works Cited The poems of Matthew Arnold always seem to portray two contrasting worlds. In this essay I will examine his poems more deeply and show what these two worlds are, what they express. I will also attempt to see his work in relation to its social and historical context. One of the two worlds to be found in Arnold's poems is a disappointing or pessimistic world, while the other is a heavenly, ideal world. In most o f his poems the disappointing
The Victorian View of Dover Beach As the narrator of Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" looks out his window, he sees a beautiful world of nature: the sea and the cliffs under the glow of the moon. Describing this scene to his lover, he invites her to "[c]ome to the window" so that she might see it too (6). However, it is not just a beautiful beach that the speaker wishes his lover to see. Rather, he wants her to see Dover Beach as an ironic image that is a representation of his whole world. Likewise
inner most thoughts. In “Dover Beach” he claims “the sea is calm tonight, the tide is full, the moon lies fair upon the straits.” These lines show a sense of clarification until he claims he has lost his faith by saying “and we are here as on a darkling plain swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight.” These lines present the idea of him not knowing why he is on this earth. His negative thoughts affect his being able to be happy for example when he says “Ah, love, let us be true to one another
second, figurative theme -- a message between the lines and underneath the obvious. Not only is Matthew Arnold's 1867 poem, "Dover Beach," a unique and beautiful literary work describing a lover's longing for trust and faith, but on a figurative plain it also stands as a metaphor for that constant evil called war. Literally, "Dover Beach" flows through four irregularly rhymed sections that increase in emotional impact and describe a lover's need for faithfulness in an otherwise dark and unfaithful
As humans, we all have one thing we are very passionate about. In difficult time, one can all resort back to this specific passion and it helps give a sense of relief. But what if suddenly that one key passion in life was being taken away little by little? Poet, Matthew Arnold captured this experience in his free verse poem “Dover Beach.” Arnold was a very passionate towards Christ, and in the mid 1800’s Christianity began dying out all across his homeland, England. Arnold wrote this free verse sitting
An Analysis of Dover Beach Dover Beach intrigued me as soon as I read the title. I have a great love of beaches, so I feel a connection with the speaker as he or she stands on the cliffs of Dover, looking out at the sea and reflecting on life. Arnold successfully captures the mystical beauty of the ocean as it echoes human existence and the struggles of life. The moods of the speaker throughout the poem change dramatically as do the moods of the sea. The irregular, unordered rhyme is representative
America has always been a land of great beauty and ambitious dreams. The most prominent dream of all is the American Dream: nice house, loving family, steady job. However, this vision is becoming less of a reality, and more of what it’s called, a dream, in this modern era. Through two different forms of art, poetry and music, two people describe their longing for a bit of the old world in this new one. “Dover Beach” is a poem in which Matthew Arnold laments the harsh realism that grips the world
Deserts of the World I have been presented with the task of researching deserts, hot & cold, where they are, what type they are and so on. I have therefore created the following graphs containing the information needed. Cold Deserts of the World The main form of precipitation in a cold desert is snow -- but only ten inches or less per year. Cold Deserts of the World Name Location Size Physical Features Some Plants & Animals Special Facts Atacama Coasts of Peruand
what it is meant to mean or what tense it is used in. It is used to explain something that is inferior to something else. Everyo... ... middle of paper ... ...e struggles between humans is highlighted in this poem “And we are here as on a darkling plain swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, where ignorant armies clash by night” (line 35-37). The speaker of this poem tells us that we shouldn't expect life to be full of “ really neither joy, nor love, nor light”(line 33). He wants
John Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale,” and Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” were written at different times by very different men; yet their conclusions about the human condition are strikingly similar. A second generation Romantic, Keats’s language is lush and expressive, strongly focused on the poet as an individual; while Arnold, a Victorian in era and attitude, writes using simple language, and is focused on the world in a broader context. While Keats is a young man, struggling with the knowledge
I. Introduction Ray Bradbury felt as though our society veered towards destruction. During the time period that he wrote Fahrenheit 451, the Holocaust and Communism spread throughout the globe. The spread of this gruesome genocide and feared system caused America to become a nation of little privacy and a plethora of accusations. McCarthy, the “senator form Wisconsin” (Vol) ability to ruin American lives was made possible by “the country’s general mood of insecurity and political paranoia following
Chaos Comes Together In the poem, “Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold, the speaker begins the poem enjoying the sight of the ocean from the cliffs at Dover Beach. While admiring the view the speaker analyzes humanity and the world. Through this analysis we see a crisis of faith happen as the speaker realizes that within life there is no certainty or guarantee of happiness as chaos reigns supreme. Throughout the entirety of the poem, “Dover Beach” alliteration is used extensively. In the first stanza
he believes, or optimistically wishes he could believe, that he can take refuge in an internal peace between him and his lover. By saying this, Arnold must believe there is no hope for civilization, and no solution to its problems. On a darkened plain the people cannot truly see what is going on, which draws back to Arnold’s idea that people of the Victorian Age acted without reflection. The darkness is caused by a chaotic world where truth is blind to those who look on it, and the people who look
the world. “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 arms of struggle and fight, where ignorant armies clash by night” (p.
Fahrenheit 451 is a well-written book that tells a story of a dream world and one man who wakes up from that dream. Montag, the protagonist of the story, brings home a book of poetry one day and begins to read the poem Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold to his wife and her guests. Many critics think that Bradbury picked this poem because it paralleled life in his book. The poem Dover Beach can be compared to Fahrenheit 451 because both pieces of writing talk about themes of true love, fantasy and allover
Comparing Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach and Gerard Manley Hopkins'God's Grandeur Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach," and Gerard Manley Hopkins' "God's Grandeur" are similar in that both poems praise the beauty of the natural world and deplore man's role in that world. The style and tone of each poem is quite different, however. Arnold writes in an easy, flowing style and as the poem develops, reveals a deeply melancholy point of view. Hopkins writes in a very compressed, somewhat jerky style, using
1. “Ballad of Birmingham” evokes emotion by the use of conflict, irony, and imagery throughout the poem. In the dialogue between the mother and daughter we see a child who wants her voice to be heard, and a mother who refuses her child’s request by insisting that she go to church: a place that the mother deems to be safe and free from the hatred that will come from the impending confrontation. Randall’s choice to use the ballad form along with his strong words help us to feel the mother’s fear