Dover Beach

by Matthew Arnold

(Victorian Poem)

First Stanza

• nature scene
• poet looking across at France (happy scene)
• the sound of the waves against the pebbles on the beach (sad sound)

Third Stanza

• the sea of faith is to represent Christianity
• the receding waves are to represent people's faith in God fading away because of the ideas of evolution and science

Fourth Stanza

• Believes everything is not worth anything anymore besides his wife
• last few lines he says the sea coast is like a battle scene swirling with controversies ("we are here as on a darkling plain")
• He says the world is deceiving and is presented as a dream but as long as they are together they can make the best of it