Dover Beach Poem Analysis - 1739 Words

Upon reading Matthew Arnold’s poem, â€Å"Dover Beach†, I was greeted with a fleeting sense of tranquility and a lingering emotion of melancholy. Found in his carefully crafted words, Arnold gives an accurate representation of the beliefs held during the era of Realism by using descriptive imagery. His use of imagery is the primary aspect of the work that most interested me. For instance, in the first stanza, the narrator gives the reader the setting of â€Å"Dover Beach†. He states, â€Å"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† (Arnold 2017). This description allows the reader to understand that the author can see the cities of France and England as†¦show more content†¦They lack joy, a source of peace, and are in a constant inner struggle of life. I feel this is a beautifully written piece that accurately evokes feeling out of its readers an d allows them to grapple with ideas that aren’t directly stated, but strongly implied. The style of this piece allowed me to analyze a work that is categorized as realist literature and compare it to what I know about such works. I thoroughly enjoyed this poem by Matthew Arnold because it allowed me to test my understanding of realism by analysis as well as the intense feeling of melancholy created by effective imagery. â€Å"Dover Beach† was written by English writer, Matthew Arnold between 1847 and 1853 and the poem was published in 1867 (Johnston, E. T. 2016). During the construction of this lyric poem, England was experiencing the Revolutions of 1848. These revolutions were composed of several upheavals that emphasized the distinct differences between social classes, specifically those between the wealthy and the working classes. This was not an event to just occur randomly, but was encouraged by specific events that led up to its outburst: liberalism, nationalism, and industrialization (Bahr-Evola, A. J. 2016). These revolutions challenged the standards and customs of Europe and sought to establish their own liberal institutions. As the revolutions continued throughout Europe, division soon occurred between those who claimed themselves to be liberal leadersShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Poem Dover Beach 998 Words   |  4 PagesArnold uses a range of technical means in order to express a shift in mood and sentiment within the poem ‘Dover Beach’. Rhythm is used as a significant device, Arnold uses an irregular rhythm alongside enjambment to create a discursive style. Arnold switches between using iamb’s and trochee’s, this technique highlights the transformation in tone, as by moving from an unstressed syllable to a stressed syllable the fluidity of the line is broken, this is potentially used to convey the journey fromRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Dover Beach By Matthew Arnold1139 Words   |  5 PagesMonelle Shuman English Lit 202 K. Morefield December 1, 2014 An Analysis of â€Å"Dover Beach† by Matthew Arnold Dover Beach is thought to be one of the best representations of the Victorian Period all together. It portrays the mood and tone of what the people experienced and felt at that time. Around the same time it was written, London had just experienced a massive boom in their population, growing from 2 to 6 million citizens. At the same time, London was becoming one of the first in the countryRead MoreAnalysis on the Poem Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold1669 Words   |  7 PagesThe Poem â€Å"Dover Beach† is a dramatic monologue of thirty-seven lines, divided into four unequal sections or â€Å"paragraphs† of fourteen, six, eight, and nine lines. In the title, â€Å"Beach† is more significant than â€Å"Dover,† for it points at the controlling image of the poem. On a pleasant evening, the poet and his love are apparently in a room with a window affording a view of the straits of Dover on the southeast coast of England, perhaps in an inn. The poet looks out toward the French coast, someRead MoreThe Significance of Literary Knowledge in Parodic Poetry: A Look At Anthony Hecht’s The Dover Bitch1100 Words   |  5 Pagesreading with one frame of mind, key themes and ideas can be missed. Poems, on the other hand, can be vague and extremely difficult to pick apart. Poets rely on figurative language to make seemingly random word choices make sense within the right context, and having a vast knowledge of literature becomes essential when reading poetry because one never knows when an allusion can make all the difference. Anthony Hecht’s poem The Dover Bitch provides a good example of how figurative language and knowledgeRead MoreAnalysis Of Matthew Arnold s Dover Beach 1264 Words   |  6 Pagesin 1867, Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach is short lyrical elegy that depicts a couple overlooking the English Channel, questioning the gradual, steady loss of faith of the time. Set against this backdrop of a society’s crisis of faith, Arnold artfully uses a range of literary techniques to reinforce the central theme of the poem, leading some to argue that Dover Beach was one of the first ‘free-verse’ poems of the language. Indeed, the structure and content of the poem goes against all traditionalRead MoreAnalysis of the Setting in My Last Duchess and Dover Beach Essay669 Words   |  3 PagesAnalysis of the Setting in My Last Duchess and Dover Beach At first glance the setting of a poem is the psychological and physiological environment in which the story takes place. In some instances, the setting is used to develop the characters. Robert Browning and Matthew Arnold use the setting to expose their character traits. My Last Duchess and Dover Beach, respectively, portray the weaknesses of the characters using elements from the setting. The text, page 629 and 630, tells us thatRead MoreDover Beach and Farenheit 4511461 Words   |  6 Pages English 2342 20 April 2011 Dover Beach and Fahrenheit 451 The classic poem, Dover Beach, written by Matthew Arnold, is a statement about losing faith as a result of enlightenment. In an emotionally charged scene in Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, fireman Guy Montag reads the poem aloud to his wife and her friends. Bradbury could have chosen any piece of literature for Montag to read as a means of unveiling his collection of hoarded books and his newfound interest in reading them. BradburyRead More Essay on Dover Beach: An Analysis1052 Words   |  5 Pages An Analysis of Dover Beachnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Dover Beach intrigued me as soon as I read the title. I have a great love of beaches, so I feel a connection with the speaker as he or she stands on the cliffs of Dover, looking out at the sea and reflecting on life. Arnold successfully captures the mystical beauty of the ocean as it echoes human existence and the struggles of life. The moods of the speaker throughout the poem change dramatically as do the moods of the sea. The irregular, unorderedRead MoreLove And Loss : Happy Endings By Margaret Atwood3620 Words   |  15 Pagesunfortunate, depressing. Most people would relate love and loss to romantic relationships that ended in breakups; on the contrary, â€Å"Confession Day† allows people to confess the pain they have felt through any of their losses. In the poems â€Å"She Walks in Beauty† by Lord Byron, â€Å"Dover Beach† by Matthew Arnold and in the short story â€Å"Happy Endings† by Margaret Atwood, it is noticed that love and loss can happen in different situations, to different people, at different times. These writings show love and loss inRead MoreAnalysis of Dover Beach and The Buried Life by Matthew Arnold 1960 Words   |  8 PagesAnalysis of Dover Beach and The Buried Life by Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold is one of the many famous and prolific writers from the nineteenth century. Two of his best known works are entitled #61505;Dover Beach#61504; and #61505;The Buried Life.#61504; Although the exact date of composition is unknown, clearly they were both written in the early 1850s. The two poems have in common various characteristics, such as the theme and style. The feelings of the speakers of the poem also