Analysis and Connections to F451

 Arnold wrote this to his wife in 1851 after a trip they took to Dover Beach, England  At this time many people (including Arnold) were shaken by the new theory of evolution

 Alliteration: to-night, tide; full, fair; gleams, gone; coast, cliff  Rhyming words: to-night, light; fair, night-air; stand,land  Opposites: draw back, return; begin, and cease, then begin again; turbid ebb and flow

 Challenges to the validity of long-standing theological and moral precepts have shaken the faith of people in God and religion (Arnold who was deeply religious was upset by this)  Absence of true love  Hopelessness/despair  In a world without truth, there is nothing left but lies

 Montag opens his book of poetry to “Dover Beach,” which is quite appropriate to his circumstances, as it deals with the theme of lost faith, and of the capacity for personal relationships to replace faith. The poem also deals with the emptiness of life’s promises and the unthinking violence of war.  Several examples of religious imagery in Part II of F451, which relate to this poem