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Dover Bitch vs. Dover Beach

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Two Views on Love
What is love? This is a question that is often discussed and argued about. Everyone seems to have a different perception on what love truly is. These perceptions help categorize what type of person you are when it comes towards love. This can range from being a hopeless romantic to a person who doesn’t even believe that love exists. A perfect example of how the views of love can be drastically different can be illustrated by these two poems; “Dover Beach” and “Dover Bitch”. “Dover Beach”, was written by Matthew Arnold in the 19th century. The love Arnold speaks of in his poem is a deep love that is indestructible. “Dover Bitch” was written by Anthony Hecht, in response to “Dover Beach” and refers to love as being a joke …show more content…

“Dover Beach” and “Dover Bitch” are both poems that describe “love”. However the objects to which the poem is directed are extremely different. The chosen object of the poem also corresponds to the time period in which these poems were written. Arnold’s poem as stated before speaks of a deep love, one that is forever constant. His poem is said to have been written for his wife, which would make sense since they were honeymooning together when it was written. “Ah, love, let us be true/to one another (lines 30-31)”. In the poem Arnold is demanding that the love they have together should be pure and well intentioned. He believes that love exists and what he is experiencing is love and that this love can overpower any obstacle. By reading this poem it can be inferred that Arnold is in love with just one person and that he wants to spend eternity with them. In a way Arnold’s poetry is describing a “one true love”. The idea of a one true love is distinct to the time period in which Arnold lived. The tone used in “Dover Beach” is very melancholy and lamented. These two descriptive words of the tone are generally perceived as being negative, but in this instance Arnold is melancholic and lamented because he wants his love to last. So although after reading the poem the reader might perhaps almost feel dreary they are given a contrasting feeling of hope.
In “Dover Bitch” however the object that Hecht

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