Analysis of "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” is a non-narrative lyric poem that expresses the speaker’s feelings, attitudes, and state of mind. As a port city, Dover in which the poem takes place is on the Southeastern coast of England close to France. Thus, the speaker may be on his way to Europe. The setting of the poem is significant since the place stimulates the speaker’s train of thought.

The speaker looking out of the window and listening to the ocean is not alone as he addresses another character in the room by saying “Come” and “Listen”. In the last stanza, another character remaining silent throughout the poem turns out to be the speaker’s lover. In the beginning, a beautiful and tranquil scene is portrayed with the words “calm” and “stand”. It can be said that the tone is contented as the speaker invites his lover to see the view. However, his pleasure is replaced by the darker side of the scene.

The tranquility of the opening scene and the speaker’s contentedness are spoiled by the sound of waves which reminds him of the eternal sadness. The sound is described as grating and fling which are unpleasant and violent words. The tone shifts to a melancholic one although it begins contented. In the second stanza, the melancholic tone deepens and the speaker connects the sea sound with a passage from Sophocles. By alluding, he emphasizes human misery and suffering. In the third stanza, the speaker likens the sea to faith and it is worth mentioning that the poem was written in the Victorian Era when industrialization and scientific developments changed the way people think, specifically, on a religious level.

In the fourth stanza, the tone shifts to a despairing one. The speaker begins describing a tranquil scene but ends up saying that the panorama scene is only a false image of the world. In reality, he sees the world as chaotic and absurd. The speaker who is educated and considerate in the treatment of other people conveys his concern that troubles him and hopes to be faithful to his lover and expects the same in return. He believes this can compensate for the void created by the disappearing faith in God. The poem takes the speaker from momentary contentedness to hopelessness. The stimulus for his train of thought is the poem’s place. In this sense; the lover, thoughts, and place are interrelated.