Eny Noer Halinna
18101050010
Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold
Paraphrase
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.
Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
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.
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
The sea looks peaceful tonight. The wave
comes and make it so tide, the moon shining
so bright on the narrow; on the French coast
the shine sparkling and disappear; the cliffs in
England stay shining and wide in the peaceful
bay. Come here, look at the window, the
night-air is sweet! Just, from the long line of
sprinkle where the sea meets white moon
land, Listen! Do you hear the harsh rumble
from the wave that brings the stones and then
the wave throws it, when their come again,
the wave going high at shore, they start again,
and stop, then start again, with the slowly
rhythm and brings the sad notes inside.
Long ago Sophocles heard it Ægean, and
brought into his messy mind that low tide and
flow into human sorrow; we also know what
is inside of his mind, and we can hear it far
away from northern sea.
The Sea that full of faith, ever at round the
earth that full of shore. Lay like crease of
shine girdle furled. But now I only can hear,
it is sorrow, long, and make a rumble sounds,
and back into the breath from night-wind and
through down to the wide edges and naked
stone of the world.
But now I only hear Oh dear, let us be honest to each other! For
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, the world, that looks fake before us believe
Retreating, to the breath of dreams, so many and different, so nice,
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear and so fresh, now no one happiness, love, or

And naked shingles of the world. shine, no certain, no peace, and no one help
each other out from sorrow, and now we are
here in the dark side. We always confuse,
Ah, love, let us be true
and run out of time struggling and try to out
To one another! for the world, which seems
from the dark side. Where are the armies
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
that always crash in the night.
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.

Interpretation
Pada stanza pertama dijelaskan oleh Matthew apa yang terjadi disekitar Pantai Dover, ia
menjelaskannya bahwa pantainya sangat tenang, ombak yang berderu kencang, angin malam
yang indah hingga terasa manis, ia mengatakannya pada kekasihnya. Pada stanza pertama ini ia
juga mengatakan bahwa kepercayaannya yang ia percayai sangat indah seperti Pantai Dover.
Namun pada baris terakhir di stanza pertama ia mengatakan bahwa kini apa yang ia percayai
telah menjadi kesedihan “The eternal of sadness notes in”.

Pada stanza kedua ia menjelaskan tentang Sopcholes yaitu salah satu filsuf pada zaman
Yunani, ia menceritakan kesengsaraan manusia yang telah kehilangan kepercayaan, yang
terkadang pasang dan surut seperti ombak dipantai. Meskipun berada di kejauhan meraka
(manusia) dapat mendengar kesedihan dan kesengsaraan itu.

Pada stanza ketiga ia menjelaskan tentang perbedaan kepercayaan dulu dan sekarang.
Perumpaan dari “The Sea of faith” bahwa kepercayan terdahulu sangat mempercayai tanpa ada
keraguan (pada baris 1-5) sehingga kehilangan kepercayaan. Namun kepercayaan itu sudah
berlalu dan kini menjadi surut (berkurang) dan menjadi kesedihan “But now I only hear it’s
melancholy”. Pada baris terakhir ia mengatakan bahwa dunia yang maju, telah kehilangan
kepercayaan.

Pada stanza keempat ia kembali berkata pada kekasihnya untuk saling jujur terhadap
dunia. Memimpikan dunia yang indah nyatanya kini tidak lagi memiliki kebahagiaan cinta,
kepastian, kedamaian, dan mendapatkan bantuan untuk keluar dari kesengsaraan. Dunia kini
tidak bisa menjadi harapan bagi mereka untuk mendapatkan kebahagiaan, ia membayangkan ia
berada di tempat gelap yang penuh dengan kesengsaraan. Pada kata “Swept with confused
alarms of struggle and flight, Where ignorant armies clash by night” ia menjelaskan keadaan
dunia yang sedang perang, alarm membuat para prajurit penuh dengan kebingungan untuk
bertahan dan terbang (pesawat tempur). Ia bertanya dimana prajurit yang selalu berperang
didalam kegelapan.

Sources:

http://www.advancedjournal.com/download/1078/3-1-174-230.pdf

https://englicit.com/notes/dover-beach-matthew-arnold