1. English compulsory B.A.I
DOVER BEACH
Matthew Arnold
Prepared By:
Jasreet

2. About the author Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) Victorian poet
the founding father of modern criticism
He believed that “poetry alone can revive the spiritual quality of the age”
and poetry should exhibit “high seriousness”

3. Literature and Dogma( 1873)
Contd-----
Other works by Arnold:
Essays in Criticism (1865)
Culture and Anarchy (1869)
Literature and Dogma( 1873)

4. About the poem Most well-known and acclaimed lyric
Represents conflicting urges of Arnold- classical austerity and need for human love
collective tragedy of humanity due to erosion of religious faith, loss of joy, certitude and peace is manifested
the only hope is human attachment and loyalty

5. The sea is calm tonight,
The tide is full, the Moon lies fair
Upon the Straits;- on the French coast, The light
Gleams, and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.

6. Straits: A narrow strip of sea between
the two areas of land
Gleams:
Glimmering and vast:
Tranquil bay: quiet and peaceful bay

7. Come to the window, sweet is the night air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the ebb meets the moon- blanched sand,

8. Listen! You hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves suck back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
Grating: grinding sound , Pebbles: small stones
Fling: throw , high strand: sea shore
tremulous cadence: trembling but rhythmical beat or tilt
This stanza describes the scenic beauty, the sights and sound of the sea at night. The sound of the pebbles and the waves fill the heart of the poet with eternal sadness.

9. Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought
Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
Sophocles
Turbid : cloudy, muddy
Ebb and flow : rise and fall of waves

10. The sea of faith