He compares the ebb and flow of the sea to the ebb and flow of human misery. The ocean used to represent a “Sea of Faith,” as Arnold notes in the second-to-last stanza. However, this faith in humanity is withdrawing and retreating; humans cannot rely on the world for beauty and happiness.
What does ebb and flow mean in Dover Beach?
“Ebb and flow” refers in a direct way to the waves coming in and going out in the setting. In a symbolic sense, when Arnold uses the phrase “ebb and flow of human misery” in the second stanza, he alludes to the coming in and going out of constantly present but ever-changing misery in the human condition.
What is the visual imagery in Dover Beach?
Intense visual imagery is used by describing nature explicitly. The speaker describes by saying “The sea is calm tonight./ The tide is full and the moon lies fair.” He also uses aural imagery when he says “eternal note of sadness” caused by the sea-waves crashing on the shore.
How is imagery used in Dover Beach?
Auditory Imagery
From that line can be imagined the scene when the speaker/poet hears the roar of the sea as pebbles crashed away by the waves. told by Sophocles that he mentions about misery and sadness described by the northern sea. The Auditory Imagery that is found from the stanza above comes from the word roar .
What picture of the beach do we get in the beginning of the poem Dover Beach?
Arnold begins with a naturalistic and detailed nightscape of the beach at Dover in which auditory imagery plays a significant role (“Listen! you hear the grating roar”). The beach, however, is bare, with only a hint of humanity in a light that “gleams and is gone”.
What is the meaning ebb and flow?
idiom. used to describe something that changes in a regular and repeated way. the ebb and flow of fashionthe ebb and flow of human history.
What is the figurative meaning of ebb and flow?
idiom. the way in which the level of something regularly becomes higher or lower in a situation: You have to accept the ebb and flow of love in a relationship.
What do the waves symbolize in Dover Beach?
Arnold uses the sea as a symbol for the inevitably negative fate of humanity. Throughout the poem, the sea and waves gain momentum and become more and more rough and violent. The waves come and go, but they ultimately bring the eternal note of sadness.
What does the light that the speaker see on the French coast represent in Dover Beach?
Matthew Arnold himself, begins by describing a calm and quiet sea out in the English Channel. He stands on the Dover coast and looks across to France where a small light can be seen briefly, and then vanishes. This light represents the diminishing faith of the English people, and those the world around.
What does the cliff symbolize in the Dover Beach?
An early image of the cliffs of England’s shore describes them as standing “glimmering and vast.” This image of the land suggests its solidity and greatness. Indeed, the poem’s first few lines suggest both the land and the sea represent strength and stability.
What are the central themes and ideas of the poem Dover Beach?
The main themes in “Dover Beach” are religious uncertainty, human continuity, and the consolations of love. Religious uncertainty: In the Victorian period, religious belief waned as a result of scientific discovery and the progress of modernity. “Dover Beach” laments this loss and wonders where people can find meaning.
What is the main idea of the poem Dover Beach?
Dover Beach Summary
It represents the clash between science and religion. This poem opens on a beautiful naturalistic scene. The poet (speaker) stands on the cliffs of Dover Beach. He is gazing out at the majesty of the beauty of nature.
What do pebbles symbolize in Dover Beach?
1 Answer. The pebbles symbolize the people who suffer under the pangs of sadness and loss of faith. Just like the pebbles going through the “ebb” and “flow” of tides, people too undergo misery and are subjected to external influences over which they have no control.
What is meant by turbid ebb and flow?
So, it’s probably not that surprising that the ocean makes him think of “the turbid ebb and flow of human misery.” “Turbid” means “cloudy, stirred up, muddy and murky” and it’s often used to refer to water.
How does the poet describe the beautiful night scene at Dover in the poem Dover Beach?
He sees an idyllic scene through the window of his room. The moon was shining brightly in the sky and the sea was filled with the tide, and the Dover Strait was bathed in moonlight. He could see the French coast gleaming faraway before they disappear, and the cliffs of England. The scene was beautiful to behold.
How is the metaphor of the sea used in Dover Beach?
Line 21: This is one of the major, go-for-broke metaphors in “Dover Beach.” The speaker uses the idea of the sea that he’s spent so much time building up, but this time he turns it into a metaphor for the human belief in a higher power. The real sea of the English Channel is reimagined as a “Sea of Faith.”
What does ebb mean Shakespeare?
EBB: to decline, decay.
Is ebb and flow a metaphor?
I call this my ocean wave metaphor. The phrase ebb and flow refers to a recurrent or rhythmical pattern of coming and going or decline and regrowth.
Where does the term ebb and flow come from?
Origin of this idiom
In literature, it was used to show the rise and fall of something like the tide. Ebb and flow are the terms given to describe the movement of low and high tides in the world of science.
What is the extended metaphor in the ebb and flow?
“He compares Juliet to a boat in a storm. The comparison is an extended metaphor where he compares her eyes to a sea, her tears to a storm, her sighs to the stormy winds and her body to a boat in a storm.
Is go with the flow a metaphor?
It can also be used to describe someone, who always bows to the majority, or rarely goes against convention. Word historians date this phrase back to the early 1900s, suggesting that the phrase “go with the flow” was originally based on a metaphor to sea waters.