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Matthew Arnold (1822-88) is largely remembered for one great Victorian poem: ‘Dover Beach’. But he wrote a number of other classic poems beside this. What are the best half-dozen of Matthew Arnold’s poems?
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‘Dover Beach‘ by Matthew Arnold(Bio | Poems) is a dramatic monologuelamenting the loss of true Christian faith in England during the mid-1800s as science captured the minds of the public. The poet’s speaker, considered to be Matthew Arnold(Bio | Poems)himself, begins by describing a calm and quiet sea out in the English Channel. He stands on the Do...
‘Dover Beach’ is made up of four stanzas containing a variable number of lines. They range in length from fourteen to six lines in length. There is no consistent rhyme scheme, but there are several random end rhymes such as “-and” and “-ay” throughout the poem and written in irregular iambic pentameter.
Throughout this poem, the poet makes use of several literary devices. These include but are not limited to: 1. Alliteration: the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. For example, “lie,” “like,” and “land” in stanzafour. 2. Allusion: a reference to something outside the scope of the poem. In this case, the poet ...
Stanza One
Arnold begins ‘Dover Beach’ by describing the settingin which it is taking place. It is clear from the title, although never explicitly stated in the poem, that the beach in question is Dover, on the coast of England. The sea is said to be calm; there is a beach on the water at full tide. The moon “lies fair,” lovely, “upon the straits” (a strait is a narrow passage of water such as the English Channel onto which Dover Beach abuts). Although it is useful to imagine the speaker in a particular...
Stanza Two
The second stanza is much shorter and relates to the world in which the two characters are in the larger picture of history. The speaker states that “long ago,” Sophocles heard this sound on the Ægean sea as the tides came in. It, too, brought to his mind the feelings of “human misery” and how these emotions “ebb and flow.” Sophocles, who penned the play Antigone, is one of the best-known dramatic writers of Ancient Greece. Arnold hopes to bring to the reader’s attention the universal experie...
Stanza Three
In the third stanza of ‘Dover Beach,’it becomes clear that Arnold is speaking about the diminishing faith of his countrymen and women. He describes how “The Sea of Faith” once covered all of the “round earth’s shore” and held everyone together like a girdle. Now though, this time has passed. No longer is the populous united by a common Christian faith in God by, as Arnold sees it, spread apart by new sciences and conflicting opinions. The comparison that he has been crafting between the drawi...
Matthew Arnold(Bio | Poems), poet and essayist, was born in Laleham, Middlesex, in 1822 and was quickly recognized for his talent. He completed an undergraduate degree at Balliol College, Oxford University, after which he taught Classics at Rugby School. Arnold would then work for thirty-five years as a government school inspector, during which tim...
Readers who enjoyed this piece should also consider exploring some other Matthew Arnold poems. For example: 1. ‘Buried Life‘ – is a monologue through which a distressed speaker analyzes his complicated feelings about his own inner life. 2. ‘Growing Old‘ – is about the reality of aging and how one’s youthful expectations will not be fulfilled as one...
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- October 9, 1995
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Dover Beach. By Matthew Arnold. The sea is calm tonight. The tide is full, the moon lies fair. Upon the straits; on the French coast the light. Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand, Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay. Come to the window, sweet is the night-air! Only, from the long line of spray.
Among the major Victorian writers, Matthew Arnold is unique in that his reputation rests equally upon his poetry and his poetry criticism. Only a quarter of his productive life was given to writing poetry, but many of the same values, attitudes, and feelings that are expressed in his poems achieve…
"Dover Beach" is the most celebrated poem by Matthew Arnold, a writer and educator of the Victorian era. The poem expresses a crisis of faith, with the speaker acknowledging the diminished standing of Christianity, which the speaker sees as being unable to withstand the rising tide of scientific discovery.
‘Buried Life’ by Matthew Arnold is a monologue through which a distressed speaker analyzes his complicated feelings about his own inner life. Light flows our war of mocking words, and yet, Behold, with tears mine eyes are wet!
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To Marguerite: Continued. By Matthew Arnold. Yes! in the sea of life enisled, With echoing straits between us thrown, Dotting the shoreless watery wild, We mortal millions live alone. The islands feel the enclasping flow, And then their endless bounds they know. But when the moon their hollows lights,
