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In order to understand the difference in the wording, the poem itself must be first understood. One cannot simply jump into a poem’s wording without fully understanding the context of the words they are looking at. Without the interpretation, the wording would not make such an extreme difference. Therefore, analyzing the poem in its original text is essential.

“The sea is calm tonight. The tide is full, the moon lies fair upon the straits; – on the French Coast the light gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.” Spoken, these words lull

“Sophocles long ago heard it on the Ægean, and it brought into his mind the turbid ebb and flow, of human misery; we find also in the sound a thought, hearing it by this distant northern sea.” Arnold is referring to when Sophocles wrote about the sea, saying how the sound triggered in Sophocles thoughts of human misery, such as it triggers such thoughts in Arnold’s own mind. Arnold is realizing Sophocles is right, he heard it long ago and he understood how love brings misery and now Arnold understands. The ending of the phrase is interesting. It is preparing us for something that we may not have considered before this point. Although the reader isn’t sure what is to come, it grabs the reader and forces them to read on.

“Come to the window, sweet is the night-air! Only, from the long line of spray where the sea meets the moon-blanch'd land, Listen!” “Listen!” It screams, grabbing our attention, jerking us from our slightly elated state back down to the solid Earth. “Listen to what I have to say!” Matthew Arnold pleads. “You hear the grating roar of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling, at their return, up the high strand.” He’s begging us to listen to his wording. The waves are flinging their stones, not carefully moving them, but throwing them! “Begin, and cease, and then again begin, with tremulous cadence slow, and bring the eternal note of sadness in.” Love isn’t to be trusted. It’s ever changing as the tide; it’s filled with stones and hatred. It’s never constant, it won’t ever be what it is painted to be, it won’t ever measure up to the perfect picture of the perfect world. The only constant is change. The ending in this phrase takes out what light was brought into the poem and squelches it. The poem has taken a turn. We, the reader, are listening ever so carefully to what is coming next.

Girdles are tight, and made of fine string. This is something Arnold hopes the reader will also consider. The material can suffocate and unravel. The reader soon sees this to be the case. “But now I only hear its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, retreating, to the breath of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear and naked shingles of the world.” Love wi

Some topics in this essay:
Matthew Arnold, Matthew Arnold’s, French Coast, English Exam, Sea Faith, Beach” Arnold’s, perfect world, word love, matthew arnold, love love, changed word, changed word friend, love true, matthew arnold’s, human misery, friend difference, love exist,