Discussion Topic

Analysis of Metaphor and Simile in "Dover Beach" Stanza Three

Summary:

In the third stanza of Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach," the sea is used as an extended metaphor for faith, specifically the "Sea of Faith," which once enveloped the world like a protective girdle. This metaphor, alongside a simile comparing faith to a bright girdle, illustrates the decline of religious belief due to secularization and scientific advancements. The imagery conveys a somber mood, highlighting Arnold's lament over the retreat of faith, which leaves the world exposed and devoid of meaning.

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What is the effectiveness of the metaphor in stanza three of "Dover Beach"?

The third stanza of "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold is essentially a single extended metaphor that compares faith to a sea surrounding the world. It is a metaphor rather than a simile because Arnold uses the phrase the "Sea of Faith" rather than using explicit words such as "like" or "as" to make an explicit comparison between faith and the sea.

In earlier stanzas, Arnold had talked about the real tide withdrawing. In this stanza, he talks about faith receding from the modern world, which in his period was becoming increasingly secularized. He describes the world being left behind as naked. This metaphor indicates something positive, as the stripping away of myth leaves behind a clearer vision of reality. However, he also sees faith as giving value and meaning to life and therefore regards its retreat as melancholy. 

The use of metaphor is effective because it conveys ideas...

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and their emotional impact together, showing rather than telling us about Arnold's troubled and ambivalent relationship to traditional Christianity.

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What extended metaphor is used in stanza 3 of "Dover Beach"?

There is a lot of imagery at play in the third stanza of “Dover Beach.” The extended metaphor in this stanza is religious belief being depicted in terms of a sea (“the Sea of Faith”), which laps at the shore of Earth. Arnold suggests that the “Sea of Faith” was once “at the full.” This image of a high tide signifies a time when people believed strongly in religion. Now, however, the speaker feels that the sea is “retreating,” and he observes that he can hear “its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar” as it pulls away, leaving the world unprotected by faith from harsh reality.

The speaker embellishes the extended metaphor about the Sea of Faith with an additional metaphor. He adds that in the past, the Sea of Faith “round earth’s shore / Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled." This gives the impression that world was once wrapped up in and enclosed by the brightness and comfort of religion when that faith was still powerful and the tides of the sea were flowing inward rather than outward.

The idea that faith acts as something protective, like a garment, is intensified by the speaker’s comment that the “shingles,” or pebbles, “of the world” are left “naked” when it retreats. Without the girdle of the Sea of Faith, life is left stark and bare.

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Identify the simile and metaphor in the third stanza of Dover Beach and discuss their effectiveness.

In the third stanza, the author uses a metaphor and a simile to create effective meaning.  The metaphor the author uses is the Sea of Faith.  “The Sea of Faith /Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore” (Stanza three, line 1-2).  The comparison being made is of a full body of water to a person’s faith in God.  A sea is a vast body of water, water as far as the eye can see.  The author is suggesting that a person’s faith should be similar to this  vast, unending body of water—always full.    In the next line, though, the phrase “was once, too at the full…” lets the reader know that the author feels people have less faith than they once did.

The simile is “Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled. But now I only hear Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar…”  The sea is being compared to the folds of the bright girdle. A girdle is something that encircles the waist.  Once, the author suggests, earth’s sea encircled the shore, and it was something bright and shining.  Now, it is withdrawing with a melancholy roar.

The simile and metaphor are effective in creating meaning because people can relate to the images.  If a person has seen the sea, he or she will be able to understand the idea of a full body of water and relate it to how faith should be.  Most people have seen and wear belts, so the idea of the sea encircling the shore like a belt would be familiar to them, and they would be able to relate to the sad roar of the sea as it withdraws from the shore.

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What simile and metaphor are in the third stanza of "Dover Beach"?

Okay, well, if we need to find the simile and metaphor, then we should define the two terms and then explore that pesky third stanza.  A simile is a comparison that uses the words "like" or "as," while a metaphor is a comparison that doesn't use those words.  Now let's look at the entire third stanza of "Dover Beach":

The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
What a depressing stanza all about faith!  I've got to tell you, though, there's more than one metaphor here, but yes, there is only one MAIN one.  The metaphor that last for the whole stanza is the metaphor of faith as compared to the sea, hence the term "Sea of Faith."  It is a comparison of the vast multitudes of ideas regarding faith and religion to the vastness of the ocean.  As you can see, this comparison of faith to the sea is done without using the words "like" or "as." 
The simile is also about faith (& the sea covering the earth).   It is Faith, or more appropriately the "Sea of Faith" that used to lay around the earth "like the folds of a bright girdle furled."  In other words, Faith used to be just as expansive as the ocean that extends all the way around the earth.  That ocean (and that faith) was like a bright colored piece of blue fabric that could tie the earth all the way around.  Note the use of the word "like" in this simile.
You can see, then, the point is that Faith is no longer girding the earth.  It's a sad comparison, actually.  Now it is only a "withdrawing roar."  Faith is retreating.  Faith is ending.  (Let's hope not!)
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Identify the simile and metaphor in the third stanza of "Dover Beach."

Here is the third stanza from "Dover Beach":

Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Aegaean, 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.

While this stanza does contain a metaphor, it does NOT contain a simile (a comparison between two unlike things using the word "like" or "as").

The metaphor in the stanza is "the turbid ebb and flow / Of human misery." The two items compared are the sea and the emotions. Mental and emotional distress ("human misery") is likened to the tides of the sea ("the turbid ebb and flow") that rush in and then recede.

So perhaps the student has meant to inquire about Stanza 4 because this stanza does contain a powerful metaphor and a simile that contribute greatly to the poem:

The Sea of Faith [Metaphor = deep religious belief. Christianity is likened to a sea in an unstated comparison.]
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled. [Simile =the "Sea of Faith" is compared to a girdle as it lay "round earth's shore," supporting the world with religious faith and a unified doctrine.]

These literary devices in Stanza 4 are very effective in conveying Matthew Arnold's message of the unsettling of English tradition. The metaphor and the simile reflect the uncertainty of the Victorian Age. Industrialization altered greatly the lives of many whose livelihoods were heretofore steeped in tradition (e.g., weavers, farmers, tradesmen, etc.). New advances in scientific thought (e.g., Charles Darwin's On theOrigin of Species) also certainly challenged traditional religious doctrine. With the foundations of secular and religious life altered, the world which the poet has known is now strange. It lacks unity and meaning without a "Sea of Faith"--namely, Christian beliefs--to secure it.

Thus, Arnold concludes in his final stanza that all he and his new wife can do is "be true" to each other in their love in order to provide themselves some security with their personal faithfulness.

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