Dover Beach

As “Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold begins, the speaker is standing upon the shore near the white cliffs of Dover, England, while viewing the English Channel and the French shore on the other side. The calm night as described in the first stanza is misleading as what seems to be a peaceful and tranquil world actually contains violent action, represented by the waves crashing down on the beach. The speaker believes the collapsing waves represent the human misery. Our world has become full of this human misery and the speaker means to warn us against this discreet aspect of nature. The speaker reminisces about the earlier times before the world was corrupted and uses symbolism and intricate diction to explain the world as it is now. He does this by recalling good times of the past, and by warning us of the loss of faith and coming of misery.
An important aspect of “Dover Beach” is the presence and importance of symbolism. In the beginning of the poem, during the descript...