Free Dover Beach Essay Sample

Dover Beach” is a poem of a dramatic monologue nature written by Matthew Arnold. The poem seems to be set near Dover which is along the south eastern English Coast. Arnold uses some natural phenomena including the sea calmness and the rising and falling of waves to describe some aspects of human nature.
The poem starts with a description of a relatively quiet scene. There is a couple (most likely Arnold and his wife) looking out into the waters of the English Channel and listening to the sounds of the rising and falling of waves. The sound made by the waves make Arnold to start thinking about Ancient Greece. He uses the surf sounds as metaphors for the history humans, specifically the steady gradual loss of faith that the human culture has essentially experienced. The ending of the poem is quite heartbreaking but quite reassuring as Arnold tries to paint a picture of the couple clinging or holding to the love that they share in a world that is filled with fear, pain and violence.
Arnold is essentially trying to show that just as nature is subject to various changes, so is humanity. The sea is characterized by slow and gradual rising and falling of waves with the strength of these waves varying with time. Humans are also the same, for instance, Arnold shows how humans have lost faith over time.
In the second stanza, Arnold talks about the retreating tide and compares it to human sadness. Arnold notices how the sea pebbles are rolled by the waves and according to him, this brings about an “eternal note of sadness”. At this point, he makes an analogy to Greek author, Sophocles who was known for writing various tragedies especially on matters of fate or the wish and desire of the Gods. Arnolds points out that Sophocles also similar sounds of the pebbles while at the shore and this just reminded him of the flow of man’s misery. Arnold tries to describe how he heard the same sound heard by Sophocles and how he also developed the same thoughts that Sophocles developed when he heard the sounds.
As mentioned earlier, Arnold tries to depict an intrinsic relationship between man and nature. The major connection of nature to humanity is humanity’s gradual loss of faith. Arnold explains this gradual faith loss using a suggestive simile. He makes a comparison of the concept of faith on religion to the sea that surrounds the earth. According to Arnold, the sea starts with a full tide. It then recedes accompanied with a seemingly mournful music made by the pebbles being grated by the receding tide. This is what brings about the “eternal note of sadness”. Arnold reminisces a world which was filled with a lot of faith and where many believed in the concept of religion. He contends that currently, the faith that previously characterized the world and that many men held is passing away gradually. The people’s minds are currently comparable to the pebbles found on the sea’s shores. Arnold appears to claim that the passing of the human faith has one major cause to the mind and this is that the mind becomes relatively isolated between disbelief and belief. This is a sad and an almost melancholy state. When Arnold hears the grating sound roar made by the sea pebbles, it reminds him of the “melancholy, long, withdrawing roar” that faith makes as it retreats from the minds of men. This is a prospect that is quite chilly, just like the night wind’s breath and it brings a feeling of submission and helplessness.
In conclusion, it is fair to state that Arnold succeeds in showing the relationship between nature and humanity. He has used the science of the seas and oceans to show its relationship to the human gradual loss of faith over time. He has shown how people of the world have lost faith in religion and have become more concerned about commerce. People have developed materialistic tendencies and this has led to overall dissatisfaction with life. The poet has skillfully use elaborate similes as well as vivid imagery to effectively pass along his message.