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“Dover Beach” is a lyric poem by the English poet and critic Matthew Arnold
. Though not published until 1867, Arnold likely wrote the poem in 1851, soon after his marriage to Frances Lucy. Arnold and his wife honeymooned at the Strait of Dover, a narrow section of the English Channel with a distant view of the French city of Calais. This is the view that inspired “Dover Beach,” which features a speaker having an existential crisis. Arnold may be better remembered today for his cultural criticism than for his poetry, but “Dover Beach” continues to be read and admired.Read the free full text, a summary & analysis, an analysis of the speaker, and explanations of important quotes from “Dover Beach.”
