Analysis of Dover Beach
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"Dover Beach"
How can life or anything be so wonderful, but at times seem so unbearable? This is a question that Matthew Arnold may have asked himself one day, while writing "Dover Beach". This is a poem about a sea and a beach that is truly beautiful, but holds much deeper meaning than what meets the eye.
The poem is written in free verse with no particular meter or rhyme scheme, although some of the words do rhyme. Arnold is the speaker speaking to someone he loves. As the poem progresses, the reader sees why Arnold poses the question stated above, and why life seems to be the way it is. During the first part of the poem Arnold states, "The Sea is calm tonight" and in line 7, "Only, from the long line of spray". In this way, Arnold is setting the mood or scene so the reader can understand the point he is trying to portray.
In lines 1-6 he is talking about a very peaceful night on the ever so calm sea, with the moonlight shining so intensely on the land. Then he states how the moonlight "gleams and is gone" (4) because the "cliffs of England" (4) are standing at their highest peaks, which are blocking the light of the moon...