Tidal Influences Essay on Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach"

English 461 Romantic and Victorian Poetry October 2, 2001 Tidal Influences Mathew Arnold's poem, Dover Beach, is narrative in style and emphasized by the use of the present tense. The reader is immediately drawn in by this lyrical approach. Although this poem is told in the present tense, Dover Beach seems to be a recollection of an earlier time. Hence, the reference to a "Sea of Faith" is presented as an historical interlude. The poet not only begins …

…stressed syllable. Pentameter...five feet. Though the subject matter of these two important poems is similar, the talents of Wordsworth and Arnold are not so analogous. Each poem is exquisite as it stands alone, but personal preference finds this reader heavily in favor of the selected excerpt from The Prelude. This particular section of the poem provides this reader with a more hopeful sense of future and security, which is wanting in Dover Beach.