"Dover Beach" discusses a man's attitude towards life. He begins stating his past view and transitions into his present view. He uses many descriptive words to express his initial thoughts or feelings. Lines 1-2 suggest peace and calmness with in the innermost workings of the speaker's mind: "The sea is calm tonight, The tide is full, the moon lies fair upon the straits." In other words, at this time the speaker had everything figured out and he witnessed endless possibilities. Towards the end in lines 21-22, the speaker claims he has lost his previous feelings of inner peace. "The Sea of Faith was once, too, at the full..." He has lost his faith. He says we are only here "as a darkling pain plain swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight," suggesting that he finds no real reason to live. He does not understand why he is here. The central theme of the poem is that negative outlooks on life inhibit one's abilities to be happy and to find purpose in life.
No comments:
Post a Comment