Dover Beach: Matthew Arnold

 

3 Poem: Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold

About the poet:

           Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) was a Victorian-era English poet, critic, and essayist. He was born in Laleham, England, into a distinguished and intellectual family. Arnold is best known for his poetry, which often reflects his thoughts on the social, cultural, and intellectual issues of his time. Some of his notable poems include "Dover Beach," "The Scholar Gipsy," and "To Marguerite—Continued.’’ Arnold's work had a significant influence on the Victorian literary and cultural landscape, and his ideas on education and culture continue to be studied and discussed.

Central Idea of the Poem

English Victorian poet Matthew Arnold’s most famous poem, “Dover Beach,” is a dramatic monologue where the poet expresses his frustration and hopelessness in the modern chaotic world. He also expresses his view that this kind of situation, where there is “neither joy, nor love, nor light, / nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain” has been created by the decline of ‘faith’, religious faith to be precise.

The poem begins with a straightforward description of nature and the speaker calling his beloved to see the beautiful sea and to hear the sound of the waves. The setting is inside a room, maybe a hotel, on the coast of the English Channel near the English town of Dover. The speaker and his beloved are looking outside their window at the French coast across the sea. So, at the beginning, it would seem to be a love poem or even a sonnet, as the first stanza consists of fourteen lines like a sonnet, with a change of tone at the ninth line, as it should be the case for a sonnet. But the rhyme scheme does not comply.

It is only in the fourteenth line of the poem that the readers are introduced to some serious thoughts with the “eternal note of sadness”.  The unpleasant roar of the waves brings a sense of melancholy to the speaker’s mind. In the second stanza, the speaker is reminded of the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, who also heard the sounds of the Aegean Sea and then wrote tragedies on human misery. In the next stanza, the speaker laments the lack of faith in modern society. Here, he compares faith with the receding tides. In the last stanza of ‘Dover Beach’, the speaker urges his ladylove to “be true to one another” as the new world, which seems to be so beautiful, apparently, does not evoke much hope for him. To talk about the stylistic aspects of the poem, the lines are mostly rhyming. The poem consists of 37 lines and is divided into four unequal stanzas. 

Stanza-wise explanation

In the first stanza, it is night. The calm and quiet sea is filled with water at the time of high tide. The moon is shining brightly (fair) upon the narrow English Channel (straits). Our speaker is staring at the French coast some twenty miles away on the other side of the channel. He sees the light on the French coast gleaming. And now, as the light has gone off, he concentrates on the English shore instead. The famous cliffs (steep rocks on the seashore) of Dover stand tall with their large, wavering reflections in the quiet sea.

The speaker asks his mistress to come to the window to enjoy the sweet night air coming from where the sea meets the moonlit land of France. He now asks her to listen to the continuous and irritating (grating) sound of the pebbles drawn by the waves. The waves are drawing the stones backward to the sea and then again throwing (flinging) them back onto the high shore (strand) on their return journey. The sound of the waves begins and stops, and again begins. The trembling rhythm continues slowly. But now, it brings the eternal note of sadness — the monotonous rhythm of the waves makes the speaker depressed. The tone of the poem now changes from cheerful to melancholy.

In the second stanza, he begins by referring to Sophocles. It was the tradition of Victorians to refer to the classical poets and writers in their works. The poet says that Sophocles had already heard this eternal note of sadness while sitting on the shores of the Aegean. ‘The turbid ebb and flow' means the movement of water in and out. It also refers to the loss of Faith. Sophocles compared eternal movement with the miseries of humans, which, like them, are also never-ending. This is how he succeeded in composing painful tragedies. According to the poet, he can hear the same sound of sea sand and retreating tide by sitting, like Sophocles, on the Shore of the Northern Sea (English Channel). Distant means far from Sophocles. The term ‘We’ in a context refers to the poet and his bride, but in a broader sense, it refers to every human. In this sense, the poet draws attention to the universality and eternity of sadness.

In the third stanza, human Faith, religious faith, and faith in fellow people once covered the earth like seawater. It was at its fullest as the tide is now. Faith covered the earth like the folds of a bright girdle, folding (furled) well. The comparison suggests that it was not loose but tightly attached to this world. It was a time when faith made everything easy, solved many problems, united people, and brought meaning to life. The speaker regrets that those days are now past. Faith is fading away from society just like the wave is from the shore. Now, he only hears the sorrowful roar of the retreating steps of faith with the receding tides. It only leaves behind the chill night wind whistling (breath) over the desolate beach with dull (drear) edges of the cliffs and raw (naked) pebbles (shingles). The poet here creates a fearful picture of the underlying nakedness of the colorful modern world.

In the final stanza, the poet asks his beloved to be true to him. Note that these lines relate to the Sea of Faith (He wants to bring that faith back). The poet believes that the world, which was like the Land of Dreams or how he described it, in the beginning, is, in reality, hollow from the inside. There is no joy, love, light, certainty, peace, or sympathy in it. Both the poet and his beloved are on a ‘darkling plain,’ i.e., a dark and ugly world. They hear the sound of struggle and fights of the people who are fighting without seeing each other. This fight can be regarded as the fight of opposing ideologies in the mind of man, or that of forces of materialism, or trivial battles of age and youth or also selfish and political forces. The poem thus ends with the terrible picture of society during the Victorian age.

Understanding

1.      Who does the poet call to the window? What for?

In "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold, the poet calls his love, his companion, to the window. He invites his beloved to look out at the serene scene of Dover Beach. The poet intends to share the beauty of the natural surroundings and to create a moment of intimacy. However, as the poem progresses, this tranquil scene becomes a backdrop for the poet's reflections on the erosion of faith and the unsettling realities of the changing world, introducing a tone of melancholy and existential doubt.

2.      What is the conflict in the poem ‘Dover Beach ’?

The conflict in "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold is primarily an internal and existential one. The poem does not depict a traditional external conflict between characters but rather explores the inner turmoil and disillusionment of the speaker in the face of a changing world. The conflict revolves around the loss of faith and certainty in traditional values, particularly religious and moral beliefs. The speaker initially presents a serene scene at Dover Beach, but then contrasts it with a sense of despair and uncertainty. The ebbing tide becomes a metaphor for the receding faith and certainty in the world, leading to a feeling of isolation and existential doubt. The conflict is existential as the speaker grapples with questions about the meaning and purpose of life in a world that seems to lack stability and reliable foundations. The poem captures the internal struggle of the speaker as they face the challenges of a shifting and disheartening modern reality.

3.      What is Matthew Arnold's concern in this poem?

Matthew Arnold's concern in this poem is to show the loss of faith, religion, and the meaning of life resulting from industrialization and advancement in science and technology.

4.      How does the poet represent the loss of faith in the modern changing times?

As the speaker sees his contemporary society, it is moving from faith to a science-based understanding of the world. The intellectual and spiritual life of the world is in transition. The transitional nature of the beach, therefore makes the speaker think more deeply about faith, change, loss, and love.

5.      What does the world look like? What is it in reality?

The world looks smart and beautiful, but in reality, it is corrupted and spiritually hollow.

6.      What does the poem say about love?

The loss of religion causes a crisis of spiritual faith. The speaker turns to love as an answer for the loss of God. Perhaps the poem suggests that love between people can compensate for the loss of the connection between God and mankind. The speaker argues that love has the possibility of creating the certainty that religion once did.

7.      What is the importance of being true to each other in a faithless world?

The speaker believes that love might provide a solution to the problem of the loss of faith, but that only authentic love can hope to fill the gap created by a loss of faith.

8.      What is the meaning of the last three lines of the poem?

In the last three lines, the speaker compares the group's collective situation to standing on a flat and dark piece of land, which is caught up in the chaos of fighting. Battles are being fought among unknowing groups under the cover of darkness.

9.      Summarize the main idea of the poem.

In "Dover Beach," Matthew Arnold talks about feeling sad and uncertain about the world. He describes the peaceful scene at Dover Beach, but then contrasts it with a sense of despair and doubt. The poem explores the idea that traditional beliefs and values are fading away in the face of a changing world. The image of the tide going out becomes a symbol of the loss of faith and certainty. Overall, the poem reflects on the challenges and doubts that people face in a shifting and sometimes disheartening modern world.

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