2
0
Summary
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) is a Victorian poet. He was born on 24 December 1822 Laleham, England. “Dover Beach” is a poem written by Matthew Arnold, a writer and educator of the Victorian era. It was published in 1851. The poem expresses the decrease of faith in the world that is changing rapidly with the growth of science and technology, and suggest a way of saving oneself from the loss of faith. It presents a grim picture of the society and the world where ignorant armies clash by night.
The speaker looks out upon a calm sea, and observes the fullness of the tide and the moon reflecting on the water. The speaker sees the lights of the French coast fade away and the cliffs of England stand tall and bright, and the bay seems calm. Suddenly, the speaker calls someone to come to the window and look at the night’s pleasant air and moon blanched land. The speaker instructs the other person to listen to the sound of the pebbles as the waves shift them back and forth, up the beach and down again. The poet implies that this sound suggests the eternal note of sadness in human life.
All of a sudden, the speaker thinks about the ancient Greek dramatist, Sophocles. He says that long ago, Sophocles also heard the same sadness sound in the Aegean Sea as the speaker hears now on the English coast. In the second stanza the poet effectively uses a metaphor where the ebb and flow of human misery is compared to the tides of the sea. Sophocles, in the mind of the speaker, likens the sad sound of the waves to the general sorrow of humanity, which moves like the waves. The speaker then notices another thought that comes with the sound of the sea.
The poet describes the faith of sea that was once full like the tide. At that time, that faith reached around the earth. But now, the speaker just hears melancholy (sadness) and withdrawing roar. As the Sea of Faith becomes smaller, it disappears and only the naked shingles (beach covered with pebbles) of the world is left.
The speaker says that the two of them need to treat each other with warm love and also they should be true. Although the world has a land of dreams. It has the quality of variety, beauty and newness but it doesn’t actually offer joy, love or light. Neither there is sureness of peace nor anybody helps in pain.
We find ourselves on “a darkling plain,” and “ignorant armies” clashing by night.
Questions
1. Who is the poet call to the window? What for?
Ans: Perhaps he poet calls to his wife (Frances Lucy Wightman) to the window (line -6). Especially the poet seems to be addressing his wife in lines 6,9, and 29. He calls his wife to look at the night’s pleasant air and moon -blanched land.
2. Summarize the main idea of the poem.
Ans: “Dover Beach” is a poem written by Matthew Arnold, a writer and educator of the Victorian era. It was published in 1851. The main idea of “Dover Beach” is that sadness and misery are guaranteed to be a part of human life. Sadness is a natural part of human experience and it comes in the absence of religion. Now the society lacks the religious faith that used to sustain humans in times of trouble. However, people can still find some beauty and comfort in one another.
3. What does the poem say about love?
Ans: Poet, Matthew Arnold, presents a very real theme of love in his poem, Dover Beach. Although the word love does not appear until the final stanza, the sense of love van felt even in first stanza. He calls his wife to the window to look at the night’s pleasant air and moon -blanched land.
The poem also conveys a message that it is only through love people can find the lost faith. He laments the loss of faith in the world with cruelty, uncertainty, and violence. And that lost faith can be regained through love.
4. What is the conflict in the poem “Dover Beach”?
Ans: The poem is about how there is a conflict between religion and science and how the world is losing faith in God. Due to the conflict of religion, science and technology, there is decrease of faith in the world and the poet also suggests a way of saving oneself from the loss of faith.
5. How does the poet represent the loss of faith in the modern changing times?
Ans: 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.
6. What is the importance of being true to each other in a faithless world?
Ans: The speaker believes that love might provide a solution to the problem of the loss of faith, but that only a love that is authentic and true can hope to fill the gap created by a loss of faith.
7. How does Matthew Arnold show conflict between religion and science in the poem?
Ans: Matthew Arnold is aware of the philosophical changes rising in the western society. He has experienced the crumbling of old establishments where people were losing their faith in God with the development of science and technology. Arnold has made great effort to carve out the complete picture of the world’s goodness and evil. The first stanza begins with a frank portrayal of the sea and with the effects of light on it. Though there is momentary excitement, it concludes that the moonstruck sea induces sadness. A perfect ray of melancholy flows into the second stanza too. In the third stanza, the idea of religion is introduced. The reader now enjoys the contrast between the low tide of faith, and the high tide of the evolution of science and technology. In vacuum, the speaker suggests that only well-woven love between individuals can withstand the negative forces in the world in the fourth stanza. This kind of love can bring meaning to an otherwise confused and confusing world. By the end, it can be summed up that “Dover Beach” is a perfect picture of the Victorian Society, its cause, sufferings, and its achievements. Arnold’s work portrays all shades of human character in a poem with the help of his changing moods and tone, stanza-wise.
8. How does the poem imply that in the contemporary spiritual wasteland, love is the only consolation?
Ans: Dover Beach” is a poem with a complete portrayal of the society. Through in this poem, Arnold thought that poetry may replace the importance of religion and rise as a new spiritual source in the exhausting society. The melancholy tone of this poem is a wonderful treat by Mathew Arnold.
Through in this poem, Mathew Arnold has tried to make a great representation of the Victorian Period (19th century). It was a time when science and evolutionary theories were rising with immense pressure on religion, as a threat to its existence. Technology was taking away peace and faith both out of life. This inspired a lot of writers to take on a melancholy tone in their works. While reasoning Arnold’s somber tone, it looks like he is coming to terms with the way the world works, feeling depressed and sad. The poem, “Dover Beach” is such a perfect portrait of the Victorian era but the poet seems lost and lonely in his situation, unable to converse with the human being next to him. The poem starts off with a hopeful tone but by the end of the poem, in its last stanza its unveils the harshness of the world.
9. “Dover Beach” is a lament for humanity in the face of modernity and progress. Discuss.
Ans: In the poem, the poet brings the narrative to a point where the reader is stuck between the celebration of beauty and lament for humanity. The time and background of the poet needs to be considered to understand this. Ironically, the tumult of nature, on the ocean, is nothing compared to the tumult of this new way of life. It is this latter tumult that frightens the speaker and makes him beg his lover to stay true to him. He worries that the chaos of the modern world will be too.
The poem signifies a certain type of poetic experience, in which the poet focuses on a single moment in order to discover profound depths. Here, the moment is the serenity that the speaker feels in studying the landscape. To accomplish that end, the poem uses a lot of imagery and sensory information.
Average Rating