Dover Beach Evaporating the Sea of Belief (Matthew Arnold) - Essay Example

?Dover Beach – Evaporating the Sea of Belief Mathew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” is a poem with a melancholy It is actually very complex and too difficult to understand because it is a state of mind which is swinging between hope and despair. This is an elegy which is tremendous mournful in its tone. In this elegy he expresses the calamity of his mind as far as the hope and faith are concerned. These calamities, restlessness, doubts of the entire Victorian age are presented in a dramatic monologue. The poem depicts the seashore at night. The night which at first feels very tranquil for the poet, but this tranquility, suddenly transforms into despair and darkness. Mathew Arnold belongs to the era when Britain was under the influence of industrialization. It was a period of rationalism. The new generation was persistent about finding the logical reasons behind religious affair. It was not the age when you believe everything blindly. The old values had been driven away and new values were taking place of the old values. The mind was very confused. It was the period in which the questions had been arisen against religious faith. The faith of Christianity was thus on stake. Arnold was deeply religious person and so he lamented the deterioration of religious faith that he calls “Evaporation of the sea of Faith.” The central idea of this poem is the shattering of faith on Christianity. Arnold, like most of his contemporaries was so much disturbed by loss of religious faith in the new and modern generation. To denote the idea of disbelief he has used the imagery of “Sea of Belief.” It is a typical Victorian poem which reflects the contemporary society which has given up the religious norms and which is travelling towards modernism. This modernism is of course, very hard to accept especially for the sensible people like Mathew Arnold. It is because the foundation of his thoughts and principles was built on Christianity. The change is not at all a happy moment for Arnold, so this poem is a melancholy poem. In this poem Mathew Andrew unwillingly accepts the reality and the changing world. He has used the sea images. The entire poem revolves around the seascape. The sea of faith has been evaporated, disappeared. Arnold wants to be with the old morals and faith but the world does not allow him to accept the religious beliefs completely. It is a typical Victorian predicament of mind. The sea in this poem is associated with the strong belief in Christianity. The tragedy of the Victorian age was that belief was shattering. The poet’s state of mind is not at all different. He wants his religious belief to be intact. But the New Age is not allowing him to do so. He calls the sea as his belief. Like the depth of sea, he also has a deep belief in Christian values. But when he is staring at sea, he feels that the sea of belief is evaporating. The Sea of Faith Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl'd. But now I only hear Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, Retreating, to the breath Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear And naked shingles of the world. The deep sea of faith is disappearing from his mind. The rational mind always suffers a lot as it is not ready to give up his old upbringings but at the same time his logical thinking does not allow him/her to embrace the irrational religious beliefs. His strong religious foundation again is not ready to accept the modernity undoubtedly as these new ideas are extraterrestrial for him. He is doubtful about his old doctrine and he is reluctant to accept the new ideologies. Almost all Victorian authors, poets have painted the same sketch of this kind of state of mind. In the first stanza Arnold Mathew visualizes the picture of a calm sea. The essence of tranquility and purity is present in the first stanza. sea is calm to-night. The tide is full, the moon lies fair. A note of tranquility and serenity is expressed in the above two line. The poet is very firm with his religious theology. It is the symbol of the typical romantic era when people had had deep faith in religion. It was a utopia which later the poet thinks as an illusion. The religious enlightenment of the poet is expressed in these lines. So the first two lines of the poem express the depth of the sea of belief which used to be very strong. In the next lines suddenly the disposition changes and the uncertainty captures his mind. on the French coast the light Gleams and is gone; The light was gleaming on the coast. The light is the symbol of the religious faith of the poet. Like it, the poet is also in the vacillating state of mind. The faith of his mind also is coming and going. It is a very fantastic depiction of his befuddled mind. The poet is not able to judge what is good and what is bad. Whether the teaching of religious scriptures is true or the logical and empirical knowledge of science is true. Arnold has trapped in his two minds. Industrialization and advancement in science and technology had completely changed the picture of England. The science is of course, based on research and experiments. Religious theologies have no experiments. You cannot prove them. Now the question here is whether religious theories are false just because they cannot prove with reasons and logic. They cannot be measured on the benchmark of rationalism. One has to feel them through one’s own experience. The tide is also associated with the arrival and departure of the religious beliefs from the poet’s mind. He has thus lost the firmness of his mind. Listen! you hear the grating roar Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling, At their return, up the high strand, Begin, and cease, and then again begin, With tremulous cadence slow, and bring The eternal note of sadness in. The hitting of the waves to the sea shore is an allegorical interpretation. It represents that the deep belief suddenly surging into his mind, while returning back of the waves is associated with the shattering of religious belief. The inner conflict of the poet resembles the outer phenomenon. The poet is going through a great dilemma. But the poet is not happy when he is doubtful about religion. It is because the religious faith gives tremendous strength to your mind to cope with the difficulties. You face the problems, difficulties because you have a strong belief in the existence of God. You are sure that God will definitely help you to tackle your problem. Once you lose your faith in God, you feel lonely as if no one is there with you. This terrible feeling of loneliness leads you towards insecurity of mind. So according to the poet, the mental peace and serenity comes only by the belief. You know that science can technology can give you material pleasure but what about your spiritual pleasure? Science is unable to give it to you. For that you have to take support from religion. Though the sea of faith is evaporating, the mind of the poet is getting suffocated in the shallowness and thinness of the sea of faith. He is floundering due to the evaporation of the faith from his mind. It is the melancholy note expressed on something which once was in a flourishing status has been fading now. This poem has a sad and pessimistic note and to describe it he has used the metaphor of sea, a sea, which is evaporating. It was not a pleasant and tranquil night spread over the sea but it is the darkness of our life in which we are fumbling without any support. According to me, It is the weakness of Arnold’s mind which led to shake the belief of God. God is omnipresent and we should not keep Him bound in churches, temples, mosques. We also cannot bind Him in our religious scriptures. Because after all churches, temples are built by man, scriptures are written by man and so they can never be divine. God is there `everywhere; just you have to have that vision to feel him, to see him. The sea of faith can never get evaporated. Thus this is a melancholy poem which shows the inner conflict of Arnold’s mind through the effective sea imagery. This poem is representing the contemporary Victorian age. Read More