Dover Beach

"Dover Beach"
Matthew Arnold

The speaker is lamenting the decline of religious faith in his time. Is he himself a believer? Does he see any medicine for the world's maladies?

In this poem, each of the four stanzas explores an idea. The first explores thoughts of the English Channel remarking at its beautiful sight. However the first stanza notes the sorrowful sound of the water. This recognition leads to the second stanza which explores human misery. The third stanza focuses on a shrinking Sea of Faith. This figurative sea once was full and bursting at the seams. Now, the speaker notes, the sea is draining. "But now I only hear /Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar" (Arnold). This sea of faith could be applied to humanity in general, but it can also be applied specifically to the speaker.  Because the sea is draining, this implies that the speaker once had faith but now does not. 

In the fourth stanza, the speaker expresses that he has no cure for the lack of faith. Instead he says "Ah, love, let us be true/ To one another" (Arnold). Never in the fourth stanza does the speaker state that the way to cure the world maladies arises through an increase of faith. Instead the speaker suggests that instead of trying to fix the problem, people should find someone to rely on through life that "Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,/ Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain" (Arnold).