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Question
What leads Mathew Arnold to tell his beloved, “Ah, love, let us be true’, in the last stanza of the poem, The Dover Beach? Write your answer in a short paragraph of 100-150 words.
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Solution
In Matthew Arnold's poem "Dover Beach," the urging of "Ah, love, let us be true" in the final stanza arises from a profound sense of uncertainty and disillusionment with the modern world. The poem describes a night by the Dover coast, where the tranquil and beautiful seascape sharply contrasts with the poet's internal turmoil and melancholy.
This sorrow is due to his realization of the retreating "Sea of Faith," a metaphor for the waning of religious belief and the erosion of spiritual certainty in the Victorian era. As Arnold contemplates the ebbing tide, he reflects on the loss of this faith, which once encircled the world like a protective girdle. In response to this growing emptiness and the harsh reality of a world characterized by conflict and human misery ("where ignorant armies clash by night"), Arnold turns to his beloved.
He seeks solace in personal truth and steadfast love as the only remaining sources of comfort and fidelity in an otherwise bleak and uncertain existence. Thus, his plea to be true underscores a desire for enduring human connections amid the widespread desolation of faith and stability.
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