Critical Analysis Of Dover Beach By Matthew Arnold

“The Beach is written in the style of a free verse poem consisting of two stanzas, the first one having nineteen lines and the second having twelve. The lines vary significantly in length and feature a large amount of enjambment which stretches over fur lines in some cases. The mood and atmosphere of the poem is extremely relaxed and promotes the reader to feel nostalgic about the last time they themselves visited the beach.

In his poem “The Tide Rises The Tide Falls”, we can see the use of personification as nature comforts a traveler facing death. The seashores are busy throughout the day and night. Many people stroll by including a traveler moving in haste. In a place crowded by modern society the tides continues to rise and falls even when it is filled with darkness, leading up to the traveler’s death. With many different kind of people that passes by the nature of the waves Longfellow writes, “The little waves, with their soft white hands,/ Efface the footprints in the sands,/ And the tide rises, and the tide falls” (Longfellow lines 7-10). In this we can see the use of personification as he says that the waves have soft white hands. This shows a gentle and soothing effect in which nature has to clear the footprints off the sands with their hands. Death is inevitable as shown in a relatable cycle with nature where the tide rises and falls, giving a comfort to individual to understand that death is just a process. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poetry reflects his ideal on nature and its comforting

B. Explanation of the allusion: Dover Beach was a poem by Matthew Arnold which was published in 1867. He wrote the poem while honeymooning with his wife at Dover Beach. Although it contained only 37 lines, it described the beauty of nature on a beach in Dover England as well as the worldly issues of the decline of religious faith. With metaphors and alliteration, Arnold effectively expressed his views and opinions making this most famous work ("Dover").

Montag compares Mildred’s friends to plaster saints he saw in a church when he was young, because they were silent and he did not understand them. Montag goes to meet Faber, and he brings a copy of the Bible. When he begins his journey to meet Beatty Faber reads him the book of Job to comfort him. The biggest quote from the Bible is said by Montag at the end of the book. He is contemplating what to share with his new acquaintances, when he remembers the verse Revelations 22:2 “And on the other side of the river was there a tree of life...and the leaves of the tree were the healing of the nations” (Page 158). This verse implies a renewal or a cycle, in which hope is given after a disaster. Bombs destroyed the city, but now the leaves (perhaps books, or knowledge) will heal the survivors. The Bible is timeless, so by including quotes and references in the novel, Bradbury implies that the power of books is also timeless. After meeting with Faber, Montag makes his way to the firehouse, but first stops at his home. He finds Mildred and her friends, and becomes unraveled when interacting with them. Montag balks at their ignorance and nonchalance, so he recites a poem that he hopes they’ll react to. Dover Beach is a poem by Matthew Arnold, written in 1867. In the poem he laments the values that were lost in his society. Montag angrily reads it to the women, and they become visibly upset, one of them even crying. The poem forces

This contrast serves to communicate the scattered nature of our consciousness with the unity, elegance and fluidity of our subconscious. Furthermore, these drawn out sounds serve to also further the imagery of the tide’s “uninterrupted sweep” which is particularly effective in conveying the image of the wave rushing to envelope the shore, the word “uninterrupted” conveying this sense that the wave of inspiration is all smooth and relentless. This imagery is furthered by the 3 line-long segment, uninterrupted by punctuation. Yet, the central point made in these four lines is when the speaker states that “(he) heard” the waves. The description of the sea gives you a mental image, but Longfellow stresses upon the fact that the speaker only hears the tide, as this can be seen reflected in the title of the poem “The Sound of the Sea”. Hearing is an auditory action that allows one to be aware of the presence of the object through the sound, but not visually or physically grasp it. This suggests that inspiration is similar, in the sense that one can be aware of it but cannot consciously grasp, control or dominate it.

The poem I will be analysing today is Song of the Surf by Dan Ashlin. Ashlin is a born and bred Australian poet who writes modern poems. I believe that I have a strong connection with this poem because of how much I personally love the beach with the soft sand and the ferocious waves. In my opinion this poem isn’t just about the waves in the ocean, but how the ocean has its own life and story to tell.

On the Waterfront is a classic, award-winning and controversial film. It received eight academy-awards in 1954, including best-picture and director. The director, Eliza Kazan, in collaboration with Budd Schulberg wrote the film’s screenplay. Based on actual dockside events in Hoboken, New Jersey, On the Waterfront is a story of a dock worker who tried to overthrow a corrupt union.

In the first stanza it is the semantic field of water: ‘waters’ (twice), ‘sea’, ‘drowning’ and ‘being drawn’. As I mentioned earlier, water is often the symbol of life but it also evokes tears, sadness and despair.

The speaker feels that faith has disappeared and has separated her or him from the "ebb and flow" of life. This lost faith is compared to a sea that is very similar to the sea described in the first stanza. Words of lightness and beauty are used once more. The shore "lays like the folds of a bright girdle furl'd." There is a sense of encompassing joy in this phrase. This bright and joyful image is then contrasted by the last five lines of the stanza. "The Sea of Faith" has now retreated, like a tide withdraws from the shore. It is interesting to note the similarities and differences between the words of these five lines and the words from the first stanza. The sweet "night-air"becomes "the night-wind," and the cliffs that were once "glimmering and vast" are still vast, but only dreary edges. The sea that was "round" and "full" has now left the world empty and exposed. Similarly, the speaker has lost his faith and feels alone and vulnerable.

Indeed, this sound of sadness is an ancient entity since Sophocles long ago/ Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought/ Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow/ Of human misery. The eternal note of sadness has been important to writers and philosophers throughout time. Arnold believed this same sound existed in all the seas around the world. The waves, sounding of despair, also symbolize the curtailment of religious values. In stanza three the speaker describes the diminishing faith of religion in England: The Sea of Faith/ Was once, too, at the full, and round earths shore/ Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled. At one point Englands faith was like a high tide. It was similar to a belt being placed around the world, holding it together. During this time people believed in their religion, thus leading England into a state of order and tranquility. However, now the speaker only feels a troubled sense of blankness: 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 passage emphasizes a mood of uncertainty and alienation in the world. In stanza four, the speaker ends on a note of melancholy. Love is offered as a possible solace from the sadness of the world, but quickly this idea is abandoned for the world,

This photograph was taken on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2015. It was taken during sunset and as the tide had gone out, revealing a wider coastline. The world-famous beach is manmade and since 1951, over 80,000 cubic meters of sand has been imported to replace sand lost through erosion from heavy rainfall, sea swells, wind and tropical storms.

Imagery is the strongest supporter of the theme. A description of the sea in its states of calmness and roughness are depicted. Sight and sound help intensify other images. The poems’ strongest feelings are usually expressed by their imagery, though rhythm is also used to convey meaning. Arnold uses the first stanza of the poem to create visual, auditory, and olfactory images that will allow the reader to picture the sea of which the speaker is viewing. Through the use of several poetic Figures of speech, sounds, and irony of words are also used. Line one; “The Sea is calm tonight”(1) has a gentle rhythm that can be compared to the “ebb and flow” (17) of the sea. With this description one can imagine a beautiful beach with water lapping upon the shore. The second line also gives the image of a calm sea. In the opening stanzas words such as “gleams”(4) and “glimmering”(5) are used, giving a sense of light. In contrast the ending stanzas use words such as

In the second part of the poem, Arnold uses the same method of writing, however he speaks of human history to further support the mood of the "Sea of Faith" and it's "eternal sadness". Arnold writes of Sophocles hearing the "eternal sadness" on "the Aegean" with it's "turbid ebb and flow". This appeals to the sense of hearing and causes the reader to almost hear powerful waves crashing to the land below. Sophocles saw the waves as sounds of "human misery". Arnold is portraying the parallel thought between the speaker's feelings and Sophocles same sadness over the changing of the land. The metaphor of the tides and the sea is suggested by the sounds and view of the speaker's window, but Arnold uses Sophocles as another example of nature's strength over the entire world. Arnold uses this to illustrate the speaker's despair and helplessness over his situation. Arnold uses this writing to exhibit the conflict between the land and the sea, and how more than just land suffers from the destruction. Arnold wants to show how deep the speaker's emotions run for his home.

The place where I feel most comfortable is a place where I am calm. A place that is peaceful in its own ways. It is the place to go to get away from all my troubles. It is the one place where I could sit forever, and never get tired of just staring into the deepest blue I have ever seen. It is the place where I can sit and think the best. A place where nothing matters but what is in that little moment. The one place capable of sending my senses into an overload. This place is the ocean.

There are some travelers who see a “paradise” as their final destination; however, it may end up to be exactly opposite of what a paradise should be. This can be seen in Alex Garland’s The Beach. The novel is about several backpackers, Richard, Francoise, and Etienne, who come together and travel to an island community, their paradise, within Thailand. Ultimately, the story portrays the idea of a utopia-like society taking a turn for the worst and becoming a dystopia, something that the backpackers would not have expected. Throughout the story, the theme of a utopia turning into a dystopia could be seen through symbolism such as the “cancer” of traveling and the destruction that it brings.