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Difficulty: MediumFigurative Language Devices

Read the following lines from Matthew Arnold’s poem "Dover Beach" (1867) carefully:

The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
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.

In the passage, how does the metaphor of "The Sea of Faith" function to develop the speaker's perspective on the modern world?

  1. It illustrates the speaker’s sense of profound spiritual loss by depicting the decline of religious belief as a physical tide ebbing away.Answer
  2. B
    It provides a realistic geographical description of the changing water levels and currents along the British shoreline.
  3. C
    It establishes a decorative conceit by using a simile to compare the earth's coastline to a protective garment.
  4. D
    It reveals the historical poet Matthew Arnold's personal struggles to reconcile scientific progress with his theological upbringing.
  5. E
    It celebrates the enduring, protective power of faith that continues to unite disparate cultures across the globe.

Answer

It illustrates the speaker’s sense of profound spiritual loss by depicting the decline of religious belief as a physical tide ebbing away.
The correct option correctly identifies that the metaphor of 'The Sea of Faith' functions to depict the decline of religious belief as an ebbing tide. This ebbing imagery, coupled with words like 'withdrawing roar' and 'naked shingles,' establishes a melancholy tone and communicates the speaker's perspective that the modern world has lost its spiritual foundation.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the target figurative language device and its context in the poem.
The speaker introduces 'The Sea of Faith' as a metaphor for global religious belief and spiritual certainty.
Understanding what is being compared is the baseline for analyzing a metaphor.
2
Analyze how the metaphor evolves through the description of the sea's movement.
The speaker contrasts the sea when it was 'at the full' with its current state: a 'melancholy, long, withdrawing roar' ebbing away down the 'naked shingles of the world.'
This shows that the ebbing tide represents the withdrawal of faith and the onset of spiritual doubt.
3
Determine the function of this ebbing metaphor in shaping the speaker's perspective.
By showing the sea ebbing away and leaving the shore 'naked,' the metaphor conveys a tone of sadness and highlights the speaker's view of a modern world stripped of spiritual meaning and protection.
This directly answers the question about the device's thematic and tonal function.

Key Concept

The function of metaphor in developing theme and tone
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Topics

Figurative Language Devices

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