In the poem "Dover Beach",witten in 1867 Matthew Arnold creates the mood of the poem through the usage of different types of imagery. He uses a dramatic plot in the form of a soliloquy. Arnold also uses descriptive adjectives, similes and metaphors to create the mood. Through the use of these literary elements, Arnold portrays the man standing before the window pondering the sound of the pebbles tossing in the waves as representation of human suffering. The man arrives at the vision of humanity being helpless against nature. Arnold creates the mood by suggesting mental pictures, actions, sights and sounds the man sees. Some examples are "folds of a bright girdle furled", "lie before us like a land of dreams" and "moon-blanched land". Arnold's use of different types of imagery and descriptive adjectives to induce sensory impressions of the setting, create the fluctuating mood of the poem, which is the eternal struggle of nature over man.

In "Dover Beach", Matthew Arnold uses detailed adjectives and sensory imagery to describe the setting and portray the beginning mood, which begins with the illusion of natural beauty and ends with tragic human experience. The poem begins two-part st

In the last stanza, Arnold ties all of the thoughts of the speaker together, while incorporating imagery, to illustrate how by examining nature and history, the reader has reached the reality of the inevitable. Arnold portrays how the speaker bitterly sees "the world, which seems to lie before us like a land of dreams" "hath really neither joy, nor love nor light". Arnold's use of repetition here illustrates the despair and hopelessness of the situation. The descriptive adjectives also stimulate visual sensations and images of the dismal sea destroying the land beneath it. Arnold leaves the reader with the harsh reality of the "ignorant armies clashing by night". This metaphor ties together how the speaker's battle is very similar to a soldier's battle. The speaker's battle however, is futile to fight, because he knows he will never win.

All in all, the fluctuating mood and usage of descriptive adjectives to illustrate the setting, tie the poem together and create the mood Arnold was looking to achieve. The image of the tides battling with the land when they meet, is merged with the consequent destiny of humanity to battle fruitless fights with nature. Arnold's method of illustrating the setting is different than the other two poems because he uses detailed imagery almost completely to reveal the mood of the story. He also uses a fluctuating plot that goes back and forth from human defeat to contentment. Jown Cowper, writer of "Suspended Judgements", critiqued Maupassant on "Dover Beach". Cowper said "Maupassant develops the mood by dividing the poem into three stanza to represent the speaker

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Approximate Word count = 1084
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)