Famous poet and literary critic, Matthew Arnold was born on December 24, 1822 as the second child of Mary Arnold and Thomas Arnold. He began his career as a poet, gaining recognition from his youth as a student at Rugby School, where his father was a headmaster well known for his administration of the school. Arnold completed his undergraduate degree at Oxford in 1844 and returned to Rugby School as a teacher. In June 1851 he married Frances Lucy, daughter of Sir William Wightman, after eventually being appointed Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools, thereby resolving his problem of financial instability which had long prevented him from marrying. He is considered by some to be the third great Victorian poet, along with Alfred Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning. He achieved prominence in English literature not only as a poet but also as a great critic, whose critiques focused on various branches of knowledge: literature, journalism and the social sciences, as well as religion. Even after his sudden and untimely death due to heart failure in 1888, Arnold's position in English literature as a notable Victorian writer, poet and critic remained unchanged. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay “Dover Beach,” although originally published in 1867, is believed to have been written around 1851. The poem takes place near Dover. , a town in southeast England, where the poet and his wife Frances Lucy spent their honeymoon in 1851. Thus, this arrangement establishes the popular presumption that the characters in this poem, the speaker and the The silent listener, are the poet and his wife. themselves. The poem, despite its simple language and ordinary setting, is not easy to analyze. It takes the form of a dramatic monologue, a type of lyric poem very commonly used and perfected by Robert Browning, where the poem consists of a speech by the character in front of a silent audience. However, unlike Browning's famous dramatic monologues, the poem is generally considered to be spoken by the poet himself and not a fictional character. The poem is characterized by numerous metaphors and vivid images; beginning with a line “The sea is calm this evening” (Arnold 1), followed by a detailed and lucid description of the setting, the picture drawn by the opening lines is quite vivid. Through these simple but strong lines, Arnold first gives his readers a clear description of the setting in which the poem is written, that is, a night on the beach at Dover, overlooking the calm sea, looking out at the full tide and the beautiful moon. The power of visual imagery dominates these opening lines as the poet continues to go into even more explicit detail to describe the place, a place where he can see the light shining on the coast of France, with the vast cliffs of England rising standing tall and sparkling. in the quiet bay” (Arnold 5). This description adds very obvious details on the geographical location of the setting. The first stanza, which consists of 14 lines, towards the middle presents an introduction from a listener, whom the poet asked to "come to the window" (Arnold 6), following which we notice a change from the visual imagery of the first lines. to sound images. The poet asks his listener to listen to the "grinding roar" (Arnold 9) of pebbles, giving such a powerful description of a sound created by something as trivial as pebbles, that the narrative tone can be seen passing through subtle, lively and simple. description of the setting seen in the first verses in a much more exaggerated, aggressive and melancholic tonetowards the end of the stanza. The poem is characterized by numerous metaphors and vivid images, beginning with a line "The sea is calm tonight" (Arnold 1), followed by a detailed and lucid description of the setting, the picture drawn by the first lines is quite alive. Through these simple but strong lines, Arnold first gives his readers a clear description of the setting in which the poem is written, that is, a night on the beach at Dover, overlooking the calm sea, looking full tide and beautiful moon. The power of visual imagery dominates these opening lines as the poet continues to go into even more explicit detail to describe the place: a place where he can see the light shining on the coast of France, with the vast cliffs of England rising up and sparkling. "in the quiet bay" (Arnold 5). This description adds very obvious details on the geographical location of the setting. The first stanza, which consists of 14 lines, towards the middle, presents an introduction from a listener who is asked by the poet to "come to the window" (Arnold 6), whereupon we see a change from the visual imagery of the first lines. to sound images. The poet asks his listener to listen to the "grinding roar" (Arnold 9) of pebbles, giving such a powerful description of a sound created by something as trivial as pebbles, that the narrative tone can be seen passing through subtle, lively and simple. description of the setting seen in the opening lines to a much more exaggerated, aggressive and melancholy tone towards the end of the stanza. “He takes us, as it were, in a verbal storm, and the force of what he says becomes for the moment beyond the comprehension of what he says.” (Looper 103). What began as a serene naturalistic scene with the presentation of a rather beautiful location with tranquil images, ended with a melancholy description of the waves violently bringing the "eternal note of sadness" (Arnold 14). The next stanza took on the same melancholy tone with which the first stanza ended; by introducing a Greek allusion to the great classical character Sophocles, Arnold establishes a link between himself and the great playwright. He speaks of Sophocles contemplating human misery through the “ebb and flow” (Arnold 17) of the Aegean Sea as he himself does in this poem. The third stanza opens with an introduction to the calm Channel of the previous stanzas in the form of a metaphorical "sea of ​​faith" (Arnold 21), which was formerly, like the beginning of the poem, "to the fullest", giving a introduction to the central idea of ​​the poem about the withering faith of Christian society in Arnold's time. The poet tells the listener how he now hears only the melancholy of this “Sea of ​​Faith” (Arnold 21), once rising in all its fullness, now retreating with a “roar of withdrawal.” Some often claim that the final stanza is a separate poem because there is a change in narrative tone. However, this stanza can still be connected to the previous stanzas; with a different view of the world after the death of the Christian faith seen in the first three stanzas, the poet asks his listener to be faithful to him, as he will be to her, because that seems to be the only thing that matters to him now that the world seems hopeless and devoid of true joy. The poem, being one of Arnold's most significant poems, has received several critical evaluations, most of which are contradictory. However, the recurring theme of melancholy that usually constitutes most of his works is undeniably evident in this poem as well. “There is… the well-known melancholy of Arnold: the man of little faith in a world without faith, who still hopes to maintain the spiritual dignity that the world without faith seems to himrefuse. » (Krierger 40). The poem is often read as a record of the changes in views and beliefs brought about by the new science of the mid-19th century. The discovery of fossils by Charles Lylell, dating back more than a million years, has cast doubt on the traditional belief that the Earth is a creation only six or seven thousand years old, as shown in the Bible. In addition to this, various scientists like Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace had expounded their theories on the evolution of humanity, contradicting the Christian belief that human beings were created by an all-powerful God. Such discoveries and theories, although rejected by many, nevertheless gained many followers, leading to a change in the beliefs of a large part of the population. This dying faith in the traditional beliefs of Christianity forms the main theme of the poem. The poem, being one of Arnold's most significant poems, has received several critical evaluations, most of which are contradictory. However, the recurring theme of melancholy that usually constitutes most of his works is undeniably evident in this poem as well. “There is… the well-known melancholy of Arnold: the man of little faith in a world without faith, who still hopes to maintain the spiritual dignity that the world without faith seems to deny him. » (Krierger 40). The poem is often read as a record of the changes in views and beliefs brought about by the new science of the mid-19th century. The discovery of fossils by Charles Lylell, dating back more than a million years, has cast doubt on the traditional belief that the Earth is a creation only six or seven thousand years old, as shown in the Bible. In addition to this, various scientists like Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace had expounded their theories on the evolution of humanity, contradicting the Christian belief that human beings were created by an all-powerful God. Such discoveries and theories, although rejected by many, nevertheless gained many followers, leading to a change in the beliefs of a large part of the population. This dying faith in the traditional beliefs of Christianity forms the main theme of the poem Dover Beach. Arnold, in this poem, uses the naturalistic setting of Dover Beach to metaphorically express this "dying faith" and the despair it brings to his heart, as well as how this new light has darkened his outlook on life. Arnold appears to have been immensely affected by the "withdrawal roar" (Arnold 25) of the "Sea of ​​Faith" (Arnold 21), causing him eternal sadness, as evidenced by his description of his outlook on life in the stanza final. .As mentioned previously, a gradual change in setting and narrative tone can be detected from start to finish: first, beginning with simple, serene visual imagery of a naturalistic setting with no sign of an underlying theme , moving to a more natural setting. exaggerated and complicated use of sound imagery, with no change of setting or subject, ultimately ending with a melancholy and desperate emotional outpouring from the poet. This style is also often adopted by Arnold in his other works: "In this poem, however, the development of the natural scene to the human levels to which it opens is handled with much more success than elsewhere in his works. » (Krierger 41). Despite the change of setting, these stanzas are not divided into various sections devoid of any connection; each stanza, from the first to the last, is significantly linked. Throughout the poem the poet uses the natural setting of the English Channel mentioned in the first stanza, even when the tone changes, the..