Name _________________________________________ Class period ______
Date _______________________
Victorian Period Poetry Analysis: “Dover Beach”
Directions: As you read and analyze “Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold, on page 1056 of your Literature book, answer the
following questions. This assignment is due at the end of class today for a daily grade.
1. Describe the way that most people would feel about the sights, sounds, and smells that the speaker describes in lines
1-14.
2. Consider lines 1-28. What is the speaker’s response to the sound of waves? Why?
3. Reread the side note for line 21. What metaphorical connection does the speaker make between the waves and the
“Sea of Faith”?
4. Find and record at least one line that contains an example of onomatopoeia in the poem. What effect does this
repeated literary element have in the poem?
5. The poem contains an allusion to Sophocles, an ancient Greek playwright. Why do you think Arnold makes this
reference?
6. Find and record at least one line that contains an example of a simile in the poem. Then explain what is being
compared and why.
7. What emotion does the speaker associate with the sound of the tides?
8. What request is made by the speaker in the final stanza of the poem?
9. What is the speaker’s state of mind in this poem? Provide at least one piece of evidence from the text of the poem.
10. Considering the speaker’s state of mind, what ideas does the speaker express about the possibilities or limitations
of human love?
11. What does this poem convey about mankind’s sense of the universe’s indifference? Write a sentence stating the
theme.
Name _________________________________________ Class period ______ Date _______________________
12. In the Victorian era, new scientific theories challenged age-old beliefs about the world and our place within in it.
These developments stirred up feelings of doubt and isolation in many people, including Matthew Arnold, the author
of “Dover Beach.” Unlike earlier poets, such as Wordsworth, who took comfort in nature, Arnold wrote about nature’s
indifference to the fate of humanity. When you think about nature, do you feel a sense of belonging, or does the
universe seem cold and indifferent to you? Explain in 2-3 well-developed paragraph(s).