ESSAY 4 Explore how Matthew Arnold appeals to the senses to make Dover Beach such a powerful poem.

Often what we feel and understand is momentary and over time, it can change into something else entirely. Dover Beach, by Matthew Arnold incorporates several senses to create an emotional poem which changes the feeling of elation to an ominous melancholy. At first, Arnold gives us a clear description of looking out from the window. This imagery of the tranquil bay and moon lies fair seemingly lulls the reader into visualizing a calm bay. However the later parts of Dover Beach indicate that the image of tranquility and fair is simply the calm before the storm. Another point which also reconfirms the longevity of this peace is where Arnold writes about the limestone cliffs being glimmering and vast. This glimmer is also an indication of the brief moment of peace, or rather faith that humanity had once had. After the poet lulled the reader into visualizing a calm and tranquil bay, he begins to focus on the scattering sound of pebbles which the waves draw back and fling Then the poet adds the repetition of begin and cease and then again begin giving the sound of pebbles a monotonous and almost hypnotizing sound of neutrality. This sound of pebbles reaches its peak with tremulous cadence slow, and bring giving it a pause and suddenly falling negatively with the eternal note of sadness in. This seems to take away the sense of soothing illusion that the poet has lulled the reader into. Furthermore by using the word note Arnold still refers to sound but it can be considered more distinct than the sprays of scattered rocks, clearly showing that the music of sadness precedes the other sounds throughout the stanza. The fourth stanza puts into perspective the sea of Faith which was once, too at the full and round earths shore implying that it is no longer like a bright girdle furled this simile gives us an image of the sea enveloping the land. Girdle gives a protective connotation can only mean that while it was there, protecting the land, it is simply not there anymore. A justification of this would be melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, retreating to the breath which uses sound devices to show not only the sadness of faith being torn away but also suggests the amount of Although Arnold seems to revert back to positive connotations, he describes the world like a land of dreams, hinting that all the positive thoughts that was once felt is simply a hazy illusion. Again Arnold goes back into negative connotations, but this time he uses anaphora so various, so beautiful, so new but indicates even more that it hath really neither joy, nor love nor help for pain this can be interpreted as the unveiling of the repeated monotonous tone that was used in the second stanza, where this time it is referred to as the land of dreams meaning nearly nothing. The poet then finishes that image with darkling plain, an indication of a dark, deserted area. From the usage of ignorant armies clash by night and confused we can assume that Arnold continues

the image of fighting uselessly in the aforementioned darkling plain, where they have changed into fighting for no reason. Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold is a poem that appeals to mainly sight and sounds to express his thoughts and emotions about how the world had changed drastically and where faith is becoming nonexistent and all we are left is with a sort of repeating melancholy of ignorant struggle and fighting.