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Critical Analysis: An Analysis Of Dover Beach

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1. Introduction:
The poem I will be writing about is ‘Dover Beach’ by the 19th century poet Matthew Arnold. The poem touches off contemporary social issues within the 1800’s. The work brings the reader into a new time: a place where religious and spiritual upheaval is prevalent. The speaker in this poem expresses their contempt for progression and on the contrary the technicality of the poem itself strays away from a traditionalistic or conservative form and structure. That intriguing aspect of the poem drove me to write about it and further delving into the complexities. Its essential nature is a contradiction and I wanted to explore that further.

2. In this part I shall be discussing the metre, rhyme and rhythmic pattern of 'Dover Beach' …show more content…

The stanzas which make up ‘Dover Beach’ do not shy away from the general attitude the poem emits. By saying this I mean that the poem is not a sonnet or a couplet. It has no fixed arrangement that perpetuates a certain stanza terminology. It is free in the best way. There are 4 stanzas with a variable amount of lines in each. I would be inclined to say that stanza 1 is full of imagistic contrast. The beginning sets a tranquilizing ambiance when describing the scenery ‘the sea is calm tonight’. This has a sedative impact on the reader. However, this calming opening is contrasted with the ending. The opening could be linked to a mindful state of being and the end has a distressing and melancholic rhetoric as the poet states the ‘eternal note of sadness’. The peaceful and beautiful imagery that we are endowed with at the opening of stanza 1 has been vanished by the confused, distressed and vulgar twist that the poem has taken. The poet describes the world as a ‘darkling pain’ which is in stark contrast with the still ocean. The ‘ignorant armies clash by night’ and there is nothing beautiful about this dying place. The first stanza consists of 14 lines, the 2nd of 6, the 3rd of 8 and the 4th of 9. This is a poem which can be described as broken sonnets as the first two sections consist of 14 lines. The thoughts which are encapsulated by each stanza are rushed, emotional and lacking in any sense of form or

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