Matthew Arnolds Dover Beach - Essay Example

 Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach follows a free iambic pattern and has a very melancholic theme; as far as the metrical scheme is concerned the poem does not follow a particular rhyme scheme. The sea acts as a metaphor, binding individual people (pebbles) together. Its receding waters create a universal comparison to Victorian society in which people were no longer united by one faith or even faith at all. The sea and pebbles could also represent being alone in a crowd. The poem consists of 3 sonnets, but the last five lines are 'washed away'. The Victorian poets were very uncomfortable when more and more people shifted their attention towards scientific development, the belief that science can supersede God and his powers deeply affected the Victorian poets. Arnold conspicuously employs pathetic fallacy throughout "Dover Beach" the inanimate object has been presented in the form of sea in the poem. Sadness is a feeling which every human being experiences and sadness is being projected by Arnold in the poem, sadness is being attributed onto the sea by the poet in the poem. The poet also succeeds in creating a feeling of pathos in the poem, the readers begin to sympathize with the poet and this is how the feeling of pathos is created. “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;” (Dover Beach) The word “is” is repeated thrice in these lines and this goes to show that the poet is emphasizing on the nightly seaside scenery. Several changes take place in the poem, the poet concludes by saying that there was light earlier but there is no light now which means darkness has descended and according to the poet it is all doom and gloom. “Gleams and is gone” The last is used clearly goes to show that the poet is trying to say that the light that was there earlier is there no more and there is nothing but darkness. Certainty also has gone with the light but this can only be understood if the poem is evaluated metaphorically. In darkness it becomes very difficult to determine one’s position and it becomes even more difficult to determine where others may be positioned. “Neither joy, nor love, nor light/ Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;" (Dover Beach) It is quite conspicuous that words like neither and nor have been repeated and usually when words get repeated in a poem it signifies emphasis and this case is no different. Neither and nor have been repeated in order to signify denial by the poet. The blank and the nihilistic view of Matthew Arnold has been presented here, he is talking about the basic human values here and believes that the basic human values have disappeared and nothing remains now and this is how the readers get to know of his nihilistic views. The poem’s language has been enriched by the poet; several adjectives have been used by Arnold. "Tremulous cadence", "eternal note of sadness" clearly signify melancholy and these adjectives have been used to increase the melancholic feeling in the poem. The readers must look for metaphors and images to understand the hidden meaning of the poem; the sea is both a symbol and a metaphor in the poem. Several transitions take place from the first stanza to the very last, initially the sea looks very beautiful under moonlight but it becomes hostile as the poem progresses. As the poem progresses the sea starts to evoke a feeling of sadness. In the third stanza it becomes "Sea of Faith" which has a hidden meaning as most stanzas of the poem. The certainty a religion brings with itself has been withdrawn and as usual human beings are left with nothing but darkness according to the poet. Tennyson’s “In Memoriam” is quite similar to Arnold’s “Dover Beach”. Both the poets are aghast in the poems; they pity human beings in their poems. The opening of “In Memoriam” is quite different from “Dover Beach”, Tennyson talks about faith in the opening stanza of the poem; he believed that faith is the only thing which can help human beings reach God since no one has seen God only faith can work for human beings. The Sun and the Moon are both attributed to God by Tennyson in his poem. “These orbs or light and shade” these are the lines in the poem that clearly show how the poet attributes the Sun and the Moon to God. Tennyson also makes several acknowledgements in his poem, the most important of them all being the fact that God is the creator and the destroyer. “Thy [God’s] creature, whom I found so fair.” These lines indicate that the poet wants human beings to acknowledge the existence of God and the poet also wants to reinvigorate people about religion and religious beliefs. The poet is shocked in the last few stanzas, “Nature, red in tooth and claw” he talks about how brutal nature can be at times and knows that every human being will be reduced to dust someday. The wrath of nature is being talked about in the last few stanzas. Futility is a major theme of this poem, the poet is completely convinced that life has no meaning and is completely futile. It is also important to understand why this poem was written in order to understand its hidden meaning. Arthur Henry was a very dear friend of Alfred Tennyson and Tennyson decided to write this poem soon after he got to know that his dear friend in Arthur had passed away. The negative vision in this poem is inspired by the death of Arthur and his death was a huge blow to Tennyson. Arthur was just 22 years of age and he was also Tennyson’s confidante and fiancé of the poet’s sister. The premature death of Arthur due to a mysterious fever raised a plethora of questions in the mind of Tennyson and he started questioning his existence, these were the circumstances in which this poem was written and this is why it has a very melancholic theme just like Arnold’s “Dover Beach” Tennyson and Arnold have both talked about faith in their poems and this goes to show that they were both affected by it. Another very important thing which must be paid close attention to is the fact that the Darwinian evolution put the Biblical-faith system in total jeopardy and Tennyson has also talked about this in his poem. This led to a lot of despair and the same despair has been well highlighted by Tennyson in his poem. Nihilistic fear of annihilation shifts to spiritual optimism for Tennyson as he started believing that Arthur has had a reunion with God. Dover Beach also sheds light upon evolution and the Biblical theory of genesis. The denuded sea-bed at the very last signifies spiritual despair in the poem, it is also important to note that the Darwinian struggled for existence at the very last in the poem once again showing a lot of despair and anguish. The two poets have different styles but both the poems convey the same helplessness and despair. Arnold uses some fine adjectives to describe the sea in his poem, words like Coast, vast, tranquil, eternal note of sadness, ebb and flow, distant northern sea, strand, line of spray and so on were used in Dover Beach to describe the sea, this makes it different from Tennyson’s In Memoriam, another difference is that there is no hint of personal loss in Dover Beach but there are several hints of personal loss in Tennyson’s In Memoriam. These were some of the most important negative factors that inspire negative visions in these works. Arnold concludes like other Victorian poets stressing upon the importance of faith in God. In this time of increasing uncertainty Arnold and Tennyson clearly convey through their poems that one must always believe in God and the scientific discoveries made by human beings can never supersede the power and the reach of the almighty. References Arnold, Matthew. “Dover Beach.” Poetry X. Ed. Jough Dempsey. 16 Jun 2003. Retrieved from: Read More