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What is the last image presented in "Dover Beach" by Arnold?

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The last image in Arnold's "Dover Beach" is of a "darkling plain" where "ignorant armies clash by night," symbolizing humanity's existence in a world full of conflict and confusion. This image reflects the poem's themes of dwindling faith and existential uncertainty, influenced by the rise of evolutionary theories that challenged religious beliefs. Arnold concludes with a pessimistic view of human life, highlighting a chaotic and precarious existence.

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The last image in Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" is a haunting image of a dark plain inhabited by clashing armies. This image is developed in the final lines of the poem:

And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night (35-37).

Essentially, in this image Arnold states that humanity inhabits a dark, vast space full of conflict and confusion. This image is the culmination of a poem that, at its heart, grapples with dwindling faith in religion and increasing uncertainty about the meaning of human existence. Arnold wrote the poem at a time when Darwin's theories of evolution were on the rise, which caused considerable doubt about religious tradition to increase. As such, the church was no longer a reliable institution of meaning for human life. In that case, it's no surprise that Arnold, lamenting the ebbing "Sea of Faith" (21), ends his poem with a pessimistic view of the confusing, dark, and precarious state of human life.

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