Literary Analysis Essay on Dover Beach

Introduction

Literal works entail enticing the audience to make them part of the work to enhance their interpretation of the intended theme. Notably, the central purpose of literature to convey a message to the audience; therefore, the creators require to develop techniques that boost their narration to help them do so. Narrative techniques, also referred to as literal devices, help in impacting the audience's interest in the central idea of the piece. Also, they enhance the delivery of the concepts by the creators as demonstrated in the poem, Dover Beach, where its author, Mathew Arnold, incorporated many of them.

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In Dover Beach, Arnold talked about different situation's that people experience in life, both positive and negative. His themes revolve around the various forces that influence people willing to live (Spacey). The human life perspectives discussed in the poem include love, optimism, faith, and culture. The sequence of life experiences is compared to the sea's behavior during the occurrence of tides and waves to depict the inconsistent patterns of life (Spacey). Note that the poem's concept is not directly delivered; thus, the reader requires to be able to interpret its message to their understanding. Importantly, Arnold used several literal devices to boost his idea delivery of the poem, which, in turn, play an essential role in impacting the audience' interest in understanding the theme.

First, Arnold wrote the poem using different points of views as part of the narrative techniques. He narrates the events of the piece using the first-person, second-person, and third-person narration. The first-person perspective entails when the persona describes or gives an opinion regarding the events in the text (McHale, 12). In other words, the persona tells the story by themselves. Notably, this technique is used in the fourth line of the third stanza where it says, "But now I only fear" (Spacey). Here, the first point of view expresses the author's emotions toward "The Sea of Faith," which he is pessimistic about (Spacey). The second-person perspective is mostly used to address the audience (McHale, 12). In the poem, it is depicted in the ninth line of the first stanza, which says, "Listen! You hear the grating roar" (Spacey). Here, Arnold used "you" to address the audience to involve them into imagining of how the sea looks likes beneath the moon. Indeed, the second-person perspective in this poem as a narrative device has been used in enhancing the audience's comprehension of the poem's theme.

Again, the poem also uses the third-person point of view. It is characterized by the narrator not being affected by the unfolding of the poem (McHale, 12). This perspective enables authors to narrate the story without being biased by expressing feelings and views on a particular subject. For instance, Arnold begins in the first stanza by stating that, "the sea is calm tonight" (Spacey). This line narrates the place in which the poem's message is being derived.

Another narrative device employed in the poem is imagery. The use of imagery in literal works is critical in forming mental images about an idea in the readers' mind to help them understand clearly the message that is being conveyed (McHale, 15). In Dover Beach, it helped the poet to limit the use of many words in describing an event. Notably, the writer incorporated different types of imagery to entice different sensation reactions regarding the understanding of the conveyed message.

First, there is the use of visual imagery which appeals to the sense of sight through describing something or someone vividly. The description enables the reader to create a possible picture of the actual object. The visual imagery in Dover Beach is depicted in the last five lines of the first stanza, where the poet talks about the waves in the sea. The lines, "At their return, up the high strand," and "Begin and cease, and then again begin" explain how waves behave. Therefore, the audience visualizes this action of waves (Spacey).

Additionally, the writer employed auditory imagery, which appeals to the sense of hearing. Here sounds are used to help the readers form a mental picture of what is being described. This technique is depicted in the first stanza through the terms, "roar" and "pebbles," which the author uses to explain how waves are sounding or behaving at the time (Spacey).

Flashback was likewise used as a narrative technique in the poem. Authors use it in revealing the previous events that explain the occurrence of the current situation (McHale, 20). Notably, this technique connects the past with the present happenings to portray a theme (McHale, 20). Notably, this element is depicted in the third a stanza that begins by introducing previous events. Arnold talks of "Sophocles" that happened a long time ago to explain the mystery of human life (Spacey).

The poet incorporated the use of symbolism in his narration. It entails the use of objects to represent an idea (McHale, 25). Notably, the poem is symbolic as Arnold relays his central theme about human life patterns indirectly. The sea in the poem stands for human life. Just like the sea experiences calmness and waves, so does people's life in reality. The calm sea stands for the seasons which people are contented, whereas the waves mean the hurdles which people experience.

Last but not least, Arnold used comparison techniques, particularly, similes to boost his narration of the poem. Similes provide a relationship of one aspect with another to enhance the reader's interpretation of the concept (McHale, 25). The connection is achieved through comparing the two based on the likeliness. In Dover Beach, the simile is depicted in the third line of the third stanza, which read, "Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled" (Spacey). In this part, the author was comparing the earth's shore with the folds of a bright girdle.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Dover Beach is a poem that has taken the use of literal techniques. It is comprehensive despite its twisted composition such as abrupt emotional variation. Notably, narrative devices are useful in conveying ideas to make them understandable. They shape the authors' messages by making them captivating to the readers by simplifying the complexity of the concept.

Works Cited

McHale, B. Beginning to think about narrative in poetry. Narrative 17.1 (2009): 11-30. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/30219288?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Spacey A. Summary and Analysis of the Poem "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold. Owlcation. Published on January 26, 2019. Retrieved from https://owlcation.com/humanities/Summary-and-Analysis-of-Poem-Dover-Beach-by-Matthew-Arnold.