The age in which Arnold was born was a crisis
ridden period in English history.The growth of materialism and scientific
inventions ,social and political theorising by J.S.Mill and Spenser ,Darwin’s
Origin of Specis and the rapid spread of Marxism thoroughly jerked and shook
the minds and beliefs of the commonly rational Victorian public.This internal
conflict was reflected in the poetry of the Victorians ,who were utterly
obfuscated and exasperated by two different ideals – one wholly traditional
,the other extremely modern ,intending to severe all traditional norms and
values so as to usher in the advancing civilisation.
Many writers of this period
showed their disgust towards the growth of materialism and loss of traditions
,through their works.Matthw Arnold was one of the leaders in this respect.His
poetry,especially Dover Beach ,signifies this spirit of scepticism ,bemoaning
the sudden retreat of traditional faiths and values of morality.
The poem sets off with a beautiful
description of a night- a night bright with moon light falling on everything
,the calm sea ,the sweetly scented air and the tranquil bay .The serenity of
the surrounding is only broken by the wave lashing against the shore,sucking
pebbles and then again retreating .This provides an appropriate setting for the
reflection of human life.The continuous breaking of waves and their withdrawal
from the sea shore bring in the eternal note of sadness –
“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.”
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.”
In the second stanza ,Arnold refers
to the great Greek tragedian Sophocles .He had also heard the waves in the
Aegean sea and this had brought into his mind the ebb and flow tide of human
misery .The poet,in the third stanza,thinks of the sea of faith which once
encicled the earth and humanity like a halo .As long as there was faith ,there
was peace and solace.But now all that is lost.The world is now devoid of
spiritual consolation .In the midst of the retreat of the sea ,the poet discerns
the retreat of religious faith .In the final stanza Arnold urges his beloved to
be true to one another always because that is the only and one
consolation.Drawing an analogy between the pelopponesian war and the present
situation he writes-
“And
we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.”
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.”
Dover beach in many ways reveals the mind
and inner self of the poet and becomes a period piece.
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