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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page analysis of six poems: Arnold's 'Dover Beach,' Auden's 'Musee des Beaux Arts,' Coleridge's 'Kubla Khan,' Brooke's 'The Soldier,' Shelly's 'Song to the Men of England,' and Wordsworth's 'The world is too much with us.' The writer argues that all six portray the ability of poetry to relate the dark side of human existence, This aspect of poetry is particularly evident beginning with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. The drastic changes that accompanied the transformation from economies that were primarily agrarian to the industrialized world we know today caused considerable psychic stress and a generous portion of human misery. Poets, over the last two centuries, have addressed this topic. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KE9_996poems.rtf
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nature. On the other hand, poets also have the ability to portray the dark side of existence?the angst of the human soul when faced with death, misery and hopelessness. This
aspect of poetry is particularly evident beginning with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. The drastic changes that accompanied the transformation from economies that were primarily agrarian to the industrialized
world we know today caused considerable psychic stress and a generous portion of human misery. Poets, over the last two centuries, have addressed this topic. For example, Matthew Arnold
(1822-1888), who witnessed a great deal of the industrialization that was occurring in England during the nineteenth century, was obviously appalled at the changes that were occurring relative to how
people interrelated with one another. His poem "Dover Beach" perfectly expresses the poets concern over the loss of faith that he equates with modernity. Arnold wrote: "The Sea of Faith
/ Was once at the full, and round earths shore / Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled" (1039). In other words, Arnold pictures an idealized version
of the past, in which people were bound together by their common faith. He goes on to picture a world in which all positive ties have ceased to exist. He
says that although the world appears to be beautiful, in actuality, it contains "neither joy, nor love, nor light / Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain" (Arnold 1039).
The only solace that Arnold finds in this new, rapidly industrializing world is the relationship that he has with his wife, who stands with him "on a darkling plain" (1039).
In "Dover Beach," one gets the feeling, even though Arnold does make a reference to misery existing in the past when he refers to Sophocles, that he idealizes the
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