The poem describes a calm night scene by the sea near Dover Beach. The speaker hears the waves crashing and sees it as a metaphor for human suffering and misery. The poem reflects on the loss of religious faith as the "Sea of Faith" recedes, leaving humanity feeling uncertain and adrift "on a darkling plain". The discoveries of science have revealed a world without absolute truths or certainties, replacing faith. The speaker urges clinging to human love and connection in a world now bereft of spiritual meaning.
2. The poem
The sea is calm to-night.
The Sea of Faith
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Upon the straits; on the French coast the light
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand;
But now I only hear
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
Retreating, to the breath
Only, from the long line of spray
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
And naked shingles of the world.
Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand, Ah, love, let us be true
Begin, and cease, and then again begin, To one another! for the world, which seems
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring To lie before us like a land of dreams,
The eternal note of sadness in. So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Sophocles long ago
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
Heard it on the A gaean, and it brought
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Of human misery; we
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
3. Mood: calm/ beautiful
Power of three A The sea is calm to-night.
B The tide is full, the moon lies fair
A Upon the straits; on the French coast the light Looking
Talking to C Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand;
someone D Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay. Smelling
B Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
Hearing D Only, from the long line of spray
C Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
E Listen! you hear the grating roar
Rhythm of the F Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
waves C At their return, up the high strand,
G Begin, and cease, and then again begin, Mood: sad
F With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
G The eternal note of sadness in.
enjambement
personification
simile
metaphor
4. Mood: melancholy/
sad
Sophocles long ago
sound- a metaphor for
Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought
human misery
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.
enjambement
personification
simile
metaphor
5. Faith- sea The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
sea going away as But now I only hear
faith: Bright and visual
faith becomes less Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
important Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
lack of faith: dark and bleak, heard
enjambement
personification
simile
metaphor
6. new discoveries- Ah, love, let us be true
seem amazing and To one another! for the world, which seems
beautiful To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
new discoveries-
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; Dark- no faith
taken away faith
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
enjambement
personification
simile
metaphor
7. Matthew arnold
Born 24 December 1822
British
Saddened by the loss of faith as
science became more important
to people
Died 15 April 1888
Most well know poems are
‘Dover Beach’, ‘The Scholar-
Gipsy’ and ‘Thyrsis’
