Dover Beach (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Matthew Arnold
- First Published: 1867
- Type of Work: Dramatic monologue
- Genres: Poetry, Dramatic monologue
- Subjects: Love or romance, Nineteenth century, Religion, England or English people, Christianity, Faith, Sea or seafaring life, Beaches or seashores, Victorian era or Victorianism
The Poem
“Dover Beach” is a dramatic monologue of thirty-seven lines, divided into four unequal sections or “paragraphs” of fourteen, six, eight, and nine lines. In the title, “Beach” is more significant than “Dover,” for it points at the controlling image of the poem.
On a pleasant evening, the poet and his love are apparently in a room with a window affording a view of the straits of Dover on the southeast coast of England, perhaps in an inn. The poet looks out toward the French coast, some twenty-six miles away, and is attracted by the calm and...
[The entire page is 1700 words long]
