Dover Beach Research Paper
1
Sam Zale 3/10/2014
Dover Beach Research
The poem “Dover Beach” was written in 1867 by British poet Matthew Arnold. Arnold was born on December 24, 1822, in Laleham, Middlesex, England, and died on April 15, 1888, in Liverpool, England (Keenan). The poem is a dramatic monologue that is comprised of thirtyseven lines split into four paragraphs of fourteen, six, eight, and nine lines each
(Bergquist). “Dover Beach” is “generally recognized as Arnold’s best, and most widely known poem” (Keenan). The poem discusses the loss of faith and the attempt to substitute that loss with the love of another person.
"Dover Beach" opens with a quiet scene with a couple looking out over the English
Channel in a house on the Cliffs of Dover. Arnold tells his companion to come to the window to enjoy the aroma in the air. They can hear the roar of sea continuously throughout the night.
Arnold can feel a presence of melancholy (Ingersoll).
The mighty sea, with its vastness that touches all the shores of the earth, was once a beholder of faith (Bergquist). Now, the sounds of the waves and long drawn and melancholy.
The beaches are covered in coarse sand and large stones. Arnold appeals to his companion that they should be honest with each other. Arnold says that the beautiful world they live in does not have joy, love, or spiritual light (Ingersoll).
Throughout the poem, the author uses poetry devices to emphasize to the reader the loss of faith and the search for love. Two of the more prominent devices utilized in this poem are hyperbole and personification. In the ninth and tenth lines of stanza one, Arnold describes “the grating roar of pebbles.” This quote is an example of both hyperbole and personification. The description of the pebbles is a hyperbole because their sound is over exaggerated to seem louder
2
Sam Zale 3/10/2014
than an object as small as a pebble. The description of the pebbles is
Sam Zale 3/10/2014
Dover Beach Research
The poem “Dover Beach” was written in 1867 by British poet Matthew Arnold. Arnold was born on December 24, 1822, in Laleham, Middlesex, England, and died on April 15, 1888, in Liverpool, England (Keenan). The poem is a dramatic monologue that is comprised of thirtyseven lines split into four paragraphs of fourteen, six, eight, and nine lines each
(Bergquist). “Dover Beach” is “generally recognized as Arnold’s best, and most widely known poem” (Keenan). The poem discusses the loss of faith and the attempt to substitute that loss with the love of another person.
"Dover Beach" opens with a quiet scene with a couple looking out over the English
Channel in a house on the Cliffs of Dover. Arnold tells his companion to come to the window to enjoy the aroma in the air. They can hear the roar of sea continuously throughout the night.
Arnold can feel a presence of melancholy (Ingersoll).
The mighty sea, with its vastness that touches all the shores of the earth, was once a beholder of faith (Bergquist). Now, the sounds of the waves and long drawn and melancholy.
The beaches are covered in coarse sand and large stones. Arnold appeals to his companion that they should be honest with each other. Arnold says that the beautiful world they live in does not have joy, love, or spiritual light (Ingersoll).
Throughout the poem, the author uses poetry devices to emphasize to the reader the loss of faith and the search for love. Two of the more prominent devices utilized in this poem are hyperbole and personification. In the ninth and tenth lines of stanza one, Arnold describes “the grating roar of pebbles.” This quote is an example of both hyperbole and personification. The description of the pebbles is a hyperbole because their sound is over exaggerated to seem louder
2
Sam Zale 3/10/2014
than an object as small as a pebble. The description of the pebbles is