What Is Elegy In Dover Beach?

This poem reflects a distinct picture of the poet’s melancholic view of life as well as the representation of Victorian loss of faith as a consequence of the rapid growth of science and commerce with the publication of Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” in 1859. An elegy is a poem of mourning or a song of lamentation.

What literary devices are used in Dover Beach?

In the poem “Dover Beach”, Matthew Arnold creates a lonely, disheartening tone by making use of imagery, simile, and personification. Using these elements, he portrays a man standing on the beach afraid of what the world has become. Arnold makes great use of imagery to almost spellbound the reader in this poem.

What is the main theme of Dover Beach?

“Dover Beach” is the most celebrated poem by Matthew Arnold, a writer and educator of the Victorian era. The poem expresses a crisis of faith, with the speaker acknowledging the diminished standing of Christianity, which the speaker sees as being unable to withstand the rising tide of scientific discovery.

What is the symbolism 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 kind of poetry is Dover Beach?

lyric poem
“Dover Beach” is a lyric poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold. It was first published in 1867 in the collection New Poems; however, surviving notes indicate its composition may have begun as early as 1849. The most likely date is 1851.

Which imagery was used in Dover Beach?

Dover Beach poem contains Visual Imagery, Olfactory Imagery, Auditory Imagery, Kinesthetic Imagery, and Organic Imagery.

What literary device is sink or swim?

*Antithesis is direct juxtaposition of structurally parallel words for contrast *Example: Sink or swim. I am strong, and you are weak.

Why Dover Beach is an elegy?

This poem reflects a distinct picture of the poet’s melancholic view of life as well as the representation of Victorian loss of faith as a consequence of the rapid growth of science and commerce with the publication of Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” in 1859. An elegy is a poem of mourning or a song of lamentation.

What is the main conflict in Dover Beach?

1 Answer. The main conflict in the poem is between faith and despair. The poem marks a distinction between the time when people had faith in religion and over one another and to the present times, where the unforeseeable future leads to the loss of faith in humanity.

What is the moon symbolic for in Dover Beach?

In the poem, “Dover Beach”, the moon falls under a happy imagery. It symbolizes the calmness that will get disrupted soon. The moon denotes to the calm before the storm.

What are the allusions in Dover Beach?

Allusion in Dover Beach:
The allusion to the ancient Greek tragedian, Sophocles, enhances the sense of melancholy and sorrow in the poem. Sophocles heard the sound of the waves on the Aegean sea that reminded him of the ebb and flow of human misery.

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 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.

Is the poem Dover Beach an elegy?

Matthew Arnold’s (1822-1888) best-known poem, Dover Beach (1867) is a masterpiece of mood , both a love poem and an elegy. Though published in his 1867 volume New Poems, Dover Beach may have been composed as early as 1851, when Arnold honeymooned at Dover.

Why is the poem called Dover Beach?

Arnold’s poem is titled “Dover Beach” because the setting is very important for the trajectory of the poem. The poem is based on Matthew Arnold’s honeymoon trip to Dover, and his imagined speaker is indeed addressing a lover as they stand at a window near the seashore.

What is the central theme of the poem?

The central theme of a poem represents its controlling idea. This idea is crafted and developed throughout the poem and can be identified by assessing the poem’s rhythm, setting, tone, mood, diction and, occasionally, title.

Which philosopher is referred to in the poem Dover Beach?

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Arnold used the reference of Sophocles in his famous elegiac poetry, “Dover Beach”(1867). Sophocles was a Greek tragic dramatist. His popular tragedies are Oedipus Rex, Antigone, Ajax etc.

What is the style of Dover Beach?

“Dover Beach” [text] consists of four stanzas, each containing a variable number of verses. The first stanza has 14 lines, the second 6, the third 8 and the fourth 9. As for the metrical scheme, there is no apparent rhyme scheme, but rather a free handling of the basic iambic pattern.

Is Dover Beach dramatic monologue?

“Dover Beach” is a dramatic monologue of thirty-seven lines, divided into four unequal sections or “paragraphs” of fourteen, six, eight, and nine lines.

Which poetic device is cold sea?

‘Cold sea’ — transferred epithet. Introspection will make us comprehend the destructive nature of wars. Man would cleanse his heart purging it of hatred. `In the shade’ — metaphor — just as shade protects us from the harsh sun, we will protect and shelter each other as brothers, thus live in peace and harmony.

What oxymoron device was used in the poem?

Oxymoron literary device was used in the poem ‘The photograph’ is – Laboured ease. An oxymoron is a figure of speech that uses two seemingly opposite or contradictory ideas to create a rhetorical or poetic effect to bring out a deeper truth.