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Dover Beach Poem

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Matthew Arnold According to Suzanne O. Edwards Mary Penrose and Thomas Arnold gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Matthew Arnold on Christmas eve 1822. Matthew grew up in the Victorian age. Arnold happened to be the eldest son of his parents. Matthew Arnold spent his first six years in Laleham-on-Thames Middlesex, England where his father kept a school. When Matthew was about six or seven the Arnold’s then moved to Warwickshire, England where his father became a professor at a school. His father was the headmaster of Rugby School. At a young age Matthew became close to Arthur Hugh Clough. Arthur and Matthew were close friends and both grew up to be poets (Edwards). According to Suzanne O. Edwards At the age of fourteen Arnold would always …show more content…

But it seems it was the most widely reprinted poem in the language arts. Lance St. John Butler said, “Dover Beach” moves from the convincingly realistic to the absolutely symbolic while hardly appearing to shift gear.” Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” expresses his feelings about faith, specifically his loss of faith. And in the poem he shows his doubts about religion. “As Kenneth Allott said in 1954: “If a poet can ever teach us to understand what we feel, and how to live with our feelings, then Arnold is a contemporary.” Alan Grob thinks “Dover Beach” would definitely be one of the poems Arnold wrote that would fall under the category as being bleak. Grob also believes the sea in “Dover Beach” serves as a structure to hope (Alan …show more content…

I agree with both Lance St. John Butler and Alan Grob on their literary criticisms of the poem “Dover Beach”. Lance St. John Butler states how the sea in “Dover Beach” is about how the sea is a metaphor for lost faith and the loss of love and hope as well. I agree with Lance St. John Butler’s statement. I also agree with him on how the poem starts off peaceful then turns harsh at the end. Also after I read some more of Matthew Arnold’s poems I agree with “Dover Beach” being one of the best. I agree with Alan Grob’s statement on how in “Dover Beach” it is very bleak in many different ways. Another statement I agree with is how the sea serves as a structure of hope. After reading this poem I think it is brilliant throughout, but also very transparent in many ways. It 's a magnificent poem and Arnold is an excellent writer and “Dover Beach” proves it

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