Directions: For your daily meditation, please read and respond to this class poem.
"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
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
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.
Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Ægean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
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.
Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
The last stanza reminds me of the sonnets of Petrarch, as if all the imagery above is for the speaker's "woman of unsurpassed beauty." The imagery in the second stanza forces me to see the ocean. Even the diction and syntax helps create the feeling of the waves going in and out.
ReplyDeleteAt first while reading this, I felt that Dover beach seemed like place the author loved and felt he could be himself, and be at peace with the world but as the words seemed to get sadder, I felt that it was possible that the author had some trauma happen to him at the beach or a bad experience. I think based on the last stanza saying "Ah, love, let us be true to one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams," I think this could be a message to be good to the world and the people in your world.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is brutally honest about life, how it is not always full of joy and happiness. The author is not afraid to tell us how scary and dark life can actually be. In the last stanza he is explaining that you are not always going to find love and happiness, but that is not always the case. “Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow of human misery” shows that many people go through life miserable, with no joy or happiness. Which is pretty common in our world today, so the author is informing us of this to open our eyes, and to help those who need it.
ReplyDeleteMaddy Francis
I like how in the first stanza the words are gentle and calm like when he uses the words “glimmering” and “tranquil”. The calm words result in the calm image of the sea and the moon in your mind. In the second stanza there are a little harsher words like “grating roar” and “eternal note of sadness” so while you still have that peaceful image, the harsher words entwine itself into that image. Overall, I just really like the words that he chooses because it provides us with such a clear image on what he is writing about in the poem.
ReplyDeleteThe first stanza of this poem gives off a peaceful tone as it describes the scenery of the French and English coasts. Arnold also uses some allusion in this poem by referencing the Greek dramatist Sophocles as he too heard the note of sadness in the sea just like this. I think Arnold is describing some early war as he uses the line, “Where ignorant armies clash by night”, suggesting that this is where two armies fought for or against France and England.
ReplyDeleteThis poem uses a lot of detailed imagery, making the scenery seem very calm and peaceful. Arnold also discusses how the sound of the sea can prompt somebody to think about their lives and how the sea has different sounds it creates depending on the aggression of the waves. He gives the sea a sort of personification so it will be easier for the reader to picture the sea with emotions in their heads. I think the poem is very unique because of how well Arnold gets the reader to sit and think about the message he is trying to spread by using personification of the sea.
ReplyDeleteThis poem in my opinion tries to calm the reader and gives a very descriptive picture of everything that the writer is envisioning. While ready the poem I felt a calmness and I got the message that this poem shows the bright side of struggle. The poem itself is kind of hard to understand unless you ready closely and I like how easy it was to piece together once you envisioned the descriptive words.
ReplyDeleteNick Criniti
DeleteAfter reading Dover Beach by matthew arnold I noticed a rhyme pattern he used which connects the poem and that in the third stanza specifically it brought it together. I also liked in the second to last stanza how he related the sea to faith and how he used personification and that in some parts you could really picture it and hear what he was saying. I am still curious as to what the overall meaning of the poem and what the writer was trying to get across.
ReplyDeleteFor the first bit of the poem, it actually dragged me in pretty easily and made me be able to picture the scenery. Felt interesting to see a mental image of the cliffs of dover, looking out towards France across the channel. It was a nice calming mental picture, and one of shock and awe to some extent. His description of what was occurring made it quick and easy for me to picture what it is he was speaking of in the poem. I also found it interesting how Arnold used the word “cadence” to describe the waves. For me when I think of that word I particularly think of a cadence coming from one’s mouth. Military cadences specifically, some of which I’ve memorized or attempted to. To me, the last bit of the poem felt as if Arnold was somewhat portraying human life as if it was the sea. When the tide comes in it is one of happiness and chaos, yet when it settles and the tide leaves there is a feeling of sadness. That was the mental picture that I got from that at least. The three lines also seemed interesting, as though he was trying to portray possibly emotions of a human, or maybe even a person who’s a bystander in the midst of a situation. Again, I’m not entirely sure, but that’s the interpretation I found in it.
ReplyDelete- Paul Yannalfo
Correction, last is supposed to be in between "The" and "three".
DeleteI have searched online for the creative background of this poem. Based on the society and the poet's living environment at the time, he uses the metaphor of the sea and the emotional projection to describe the chaos of the British society at that time and the sincere belief that people are gradually missing. He profoundly revealing the phenomenon of people's spirits on the brink of collapse in that era, comparing the present with the past, pointing out that people have returned to the era of no faith, no true love, the only thing left is fear. At the end of the poem, even though the world has been so indifferent, the poet is still eager to strengthen the faith and true love with his lover and adhere to a conviction of peace in this chaotic world.
ReplyDeleteDover Beach by Matthew Arnold starts with a calming scene at a beach. As the stanza’s go on it turns into a more sad tone. “Listen! you hear the grating roar” catches the reader's attention by letting them no the poem is going to change its tone. The imagery in the poem strongly catches the reader's attention throughout the poem. It talks about what life is like and how it will never be perfect. The last paragraph strongly touches on this topic.
ReplyDeleteI feel as if this poem trying to give us a perspective on life through the perspective of the ocean. It compares hope to the "sea of faith". The writer seems to be comparing his past life to the one hes living in right now and seems to only have poor memories from the past life. He seems very calm and at peace with the setting and even with his life. overall the poem is happy and peaceful.
ReplyDeleteI could be wrong, but to me this poem sounds like the author is talking about self-reflection and finding oneself. “Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; And we are here as on a darkling plain,
ReplyDeleteSwept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night. I like this stanza because of it’s message; that we are all here on earth trying to figure out what we are supposed to be doing. The tone of the poem seemed very sad at first and then took a turn and became almost positive. The author uses alot of bright imagery, and descriptive words. A good example of this being stanza 5-7. “Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay. Come to the window, sweet is the night-air! Only, from the long line of spray”. I also like that the poem rhymes and the author’s name. Arnold is a great last name!
After reading the poem by Matthew Arnold, I get the idea that the writer is expressing how he has felt over time dealing with war. He seems to use imagery to show the reader that the war has caused many to think about the edge of the cliff and how there's a tipping point in this poem about what he's dealing with
ReplyDeleteMathew Arnold is trying to paint a picture in the readers' minds. He is showing that life can be peaceful and calm but that ist is always how it is. He talks about the waves crashing, the sea and the moon in the night sky. In the first stanza and most of the second one it sounds happy and peaceful but toward the end of the second stanza the author brings more of a sad note in and says “With tremulous cadence slow, and bring The eternal note of sadness in.” I am still interested to find out the true meaning of this poem.
ReplyDeleteThe first stanza seems to have a peaceful, somewhat comforting setting to it, “The sea is calm tonight. The tide is full, the moon lies fair,” taking a quick turn with the second stanza sporting an aggressive demier. I think after reading through this poem a couple of times, Matthew Arnold is trying to express the ups and downs that a relationship holds, with the passage ending with not knowing exactly how love should be portrayed.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that jumps out at me while reading this poem is the imagery. Arnold does a really great job at setting the scene in this poem. I think one of his main focuses is the surroundings for a reason. I think what Matthew Arnold is trying to do here is make us enjoy the scenery by description so that we can feel more connected to nature. His last stanza, especially, has a lot of persuasion that is trying to encourage the reader to open their eyes to the beauty of the landscape. He talks up the setting in the whole poem and in the last stanza, Arnold tells us why we should stop and look at the bigger picture while those who don't, "clash by night".
ReplyDeleteThe poem described the truth and harshness of life. The poem givings you an idea of how life can have its highs and lows. In the last stanza, the author shows, how some people don't find there love of there life. It shows how miserable life can be at times.
ReplyDeleteDavid Blanco
DeleteThe poem overall gives out a lonely, isolated vibe through the various imagery, personification and similes in the writing. “The sea is calm tonight. The tide is full; the moon lies fair”. From this short description, the image is instantly put in readers head. I could easily see a peaceful sea at night, the tide is moving back and forth at a constant, calming rhythm. The moonlight striking down the water surface; lively, gleamingly, with a slight of loneliness. The author then smoothly shifts the tone of the poem from peaceful to depressing by focusing on another aspect of the sea. “The grating roar of pebbles....bring the eternal note of sadness in”.
ReplyDeleteArnold is very clever with words and adjectives choices to create the atmosphere in this piece.
Grace Shih