ipl-logo

Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach

1547 Words7 Pages

Matthew Arnold 's poem “Dover Beach” expresses many different thoughts on life and relates such thoughts to the ocean. This poem describes an ocean while trying to get its reader to look beneath the surface of the poem and extract the information that it is talking about something of greater importance to the speaker. These feelings are not directly stated in the poem, it is only through the use of literary devices that such a reference becomes evident.The idea that life can suddenly be filled with agony in the poem “Dover Beach” is illustrated by the use of diction, tone and type of poetry. A lyrical poem is all about the thoughts and feelings of the speaker. The speaker of “Dover Beach” is, therefore, expressing his interpretations on how …show more content…

As an illustration, the use of concrete diction allows the reader to see beyond the surface of the text, and imagine what is going on through their senses. Towards the beginning of the poem, line 4 and 5 states, “the cliffs of England stand/ Glimmering and vast” (Arnold 4 and 5), but further into the poem it is said that, “And naked shingles of the world” (Arnold 28) This enables the reader to see how the speaker believes his life to be strong and sturdy, that nothing could break it down, much like how the cliffs are strong and tall, but also how even when it seems that nothing could break it down the is still crumbling underneath. The way that the words are selected work to show that how even the strongest things have issues. The large stone cliffs are supposed to represent the speaker, and the shingles on the beach show that even if he may be strong and look happy on the outside, underneath the surface, there can be issues with problems and other types of despair. Similarly, before the shift in tone, the speaker says, “Listen! You hear the grating roar” (Arnold 9). The sense of hearing is now added to the mix. The reader can now understand more about how the speaker feels about himself.Seeing that the speaker believes the ocean to be annoying is in reference to how the speaker feels that he himself is annoying. The word grating means irritating or annoying, which is why the author chose to put this word here, had the author chosen another word it would have had a cost on the meaning of the poem. The use of diction has not only let the reader understand what is going on beneath the surface, but also begins to allow the ability to paint a picture in one 's mind and how the speaker is in agony even if he appears as happy as he did in the beginning of the poem. In addition, the diction chosen for this poem allows the

Show More
Related
821 Words | 4 Pages

In “On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries,” Julia Alvarez incorporates the use of imagery and selection of detail to convey the speaker’s discovery of a book of poems and the inspirational effect it has upon her. In this poem the speaker, who is in the poetry section of a college store, discovers “The Blue Estuaries” by Louise Bogan. The speaker develops an inner conflict of stealing the book or not and attempts to find her voice in literature. In “On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries,” Alvarez uses imagery to convey the discovery of the book and its inspiration to the speaker.

Read More
888 Words | 4 Pages

In “The Great Santa Barbara Oil Disaster, or: A Diary” by Conyus, he write of his interactions and thoughts that he has while cleaning the horrible and momentous oil spill that occurred in Santa Barbara in 1969. In this, there is a stanza that he writes that appeals to the entirety of the poem, the one that begins on page three with “Day six” and ends with “again & again.” ; this stanza uses tone and imagery which allow for the reader to grasp the fundamental core of this experience and how Conyus is trying to illustrate the effects of such a disaster on a human psyche. Day six of this poem is the day that starts with a dishonest sense of normalcy of an urban environment. Conyus introduces the idea of toads croaking in a setting combining two worlds, “asphalt rain pond”; this paints the picture of nature and man coinciding to try to live together harmoniously in an environment that

Read More
999 Words | 4 Pages

Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think. Robert Henri, Artist Little Gasparilla Island, a barrier island on the southwest on Florida’s gulf coast, is a dynamic place to refresh and meditate. This place is about 3 miles of Old Florida. Nothing is fast on Little Gasparilla.

Read More
827 Words | 4 Pages

Through a binary of optimism to disposition, for example, “glory from above,” found in line nineteen, and “it’s all downhill from here,” communicates that through the good, there could be bad. Within the song, Ocean speaks about a possible intimate feeling or relationship with someone he was involved with that explains the happenings and effort given yet the repetitive downfall that seems to follow along with it in the end. One strong example of Ocean’s view of love is a repetition of “you showed me love,” being one line that is repeated twice in the song. This showing of compassion to one person demonstrates his compatible comprehension and how he might possibly be involved with someone that he sees so highly.

Read More
792 Words | 4 Pages

When an individual reads something historical they cannot fully comprehend the story because they did not live in that time period nor did they experience the event in the character’s shoes. In this story the writer uses imagery to make the reader feel as if they were present during the event. The entire story takes place on a beach where the author is a young child posing for a picture her grandmother is taking. While narrating this event in her life the writer describes the ocean, she says “The sun cuts the rippling Gulf in flashes with each tidal rush” The way in which she described the sunset on the ocean illustrates the event in a descriptive way in which the reader can imagine it and feel as if they were there. She also uses forms of imagery to create nostalgia, for example she states “ I am four in this photograph…

Read More
1182 Words | 5 Pages

The author utilizes multiple metaphors in the poem to create vivid imagery in readers’ mind about the poem. Additionally, John Brehm widely utilizes nautical metaphors to bring out its intentions. For instance, the poem is entitled “the sea of faith.” The term “Sea” is used to show how deep, broad, and everlasting the act of “faith” can be.

Read More
1100 Words | 5 Pages

The agony the writer is feeling about his son 's death, as well as the hint of optimism through planting the tree is powerfully depicted through the devices of diction and imagery throughout the poem. In the first stanza the speaker describes the setting when planting the Sequoia; “Rain blacked the horizon, but cold winds kept it over the Pacific, / And the sky above us stayed the dull gray.” The speaker uses a lexicon of words such as “blackened”, “cold” and “dull gray” which all introduce a harsh and sorrowful tone to the poem. Pathetic fallacy is also used through the imagery of nature;

Read More
814 Words | 4 Pages

In “Find Your Beach”, a narrative essay written by Zadie Smith, the writer expresses her belief that is one is adamant enough, one can arrive at their beach - a paradise-like environment that people dream of, but is believed to be very hard to obtain. The idea of a person’s “beach” being hard to discover can be observed through Smith’s personal background, as it is almost mythical for this English writer living in Soho, Manhattan to come by a beach. What I took away from Smith’s text is the idea that when you finally arrive at your beach, “sooner or later you will be sitting on that beach wondering what comes next”. Overall, I interpreted one’s beach being defined as a person’s happiness. It is something we all have the potential to posses

Read More
601 Words | 3 Pages

In his essay “Here,” Philip Larkin uses many literary devices to convey the speaker’s attitude toward the places he describes. Larkin utilizes imagery and strong diction to depict these feelings of both a large city and the isolated beach surrounding it. In the beginning of the passage, the speaker describes a large town that he passes through while on a train. The people in the town intrigue him, but he is not impressed by the inner-city life.

Read More
739 Words | 3 Pages

This geological marvel bursts unto the scene and unto the vision of any who approaches the mainland, in a manner akin to the ‘Big Bang’ of cosmological evolution. It is arresting, a sight that can scarce escape the notice of anyone in the vicinity. Such an invocation plays the dual role of establishing Smith’s authoritative voice- her imprint on the poem, her mimicry of a predominantly masculine epic poetic form- and of attributing an elevation to her muse (the Beachy Head).

Read More
478 Words | 2 Pages

In the first stanza, Harwood tells about a memory that was told to her by someone else. It was a memory of her father taking her to the beach. The uncertain tone in the first half of the first stanza and the definite tone in the second half of the stanza emphasises the importance of the emotions she felt at the time of the event rather what happened. The imagery of the beach is portrayed as fearful - ‘sea’s edge’ can represent the danger of life and mystery

Read More
1845 Words | 8 Pages

The ocean symbolizes wilderness, paradoxicality and the shore is an epitome of calm. It is an object of profound mystery and is enriched with many symbols. It highlights nature’s paradoxical nature through ocean. It is the protagonist which shows its masculine heroism and has a direct impact on individual. At one point of time the distressed men on boat are deeply plagued by doubts and are left adrift at sea without anyone to comfort them during their bouts of fear.

Read More
611 Words | 3 Pages

“There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while

Read More
1215 Words | 5 Pages

Contrasting images are used between the beginning and end of the poem. At first, the speaker is described as standing on a “wide strip of the Mississippi beach,” (Trethewey l. 2) while her grandmother is standing on a “narrow plot of sand.” It symbolizes the freedom the speaker now compared to the confinement and limited opportunities her grandmother experienced. Natasha Trethewey uses mood, symbolism, and

Read More
1749 Words | 7 Pages

In this poem Henry Longfellow describes a seaside scene in which dawn overcomes darkness, thus relating to the rising of society after the hardships of battle. The reader can also see feelings, emotions, and imagination take priority over logic and facts. Bridging the Romantic Era and the Realism Era is the Transcendental Era. This era is unusual due to it’s overlapping of both the Romantic and Realism Era. Due to its coexistence in two eras, this division serves as a platform for authors to attempt to establish a new literary culture aside from the rest of the world.

Read More

More about Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach

Open Document