Dover Beach

Dover Beach - Matthew Arnold

Comparing three bodies of water, Arnold invokes the feeling of misery and sadness by describing in detail the sounds of the sea with "the eternal note of sadness in." The speaker claims that in order to survive the misery the world has become we must turn to one another. He says to abandon faith because there is none left. Using diction such as "full" and "long" to describe the sea filled with sadness, he uses the similar words "full" and "round" to describe how the "Sea of Faith" used to be. In this way, he implies that the substance that used to fill the sea of faith now makes up the seas of misery, possibly saying that the same actions and concepts that lead us to faith can lead us to misery.