Matthew Arnold “Dover Beach” (questions by Florence Boos)
What are the poem's stanza forms and rhythms? What forms of sound patterning does it use?
What seems to be the poem's subject? What are some features of its language and style? How does it differ from some of the poems we've read earlier?
What is the poem's sequence of ideas? What is Arnold's view of the prospects for human happiness?
What are some implications of the opening metaphor of the sea by the French coast and cliffs of Dover? Why the reference to Sophocles? What metaphor does Arnold use to describe Victorian "Faith"? To what kinds of faith may he refer?
What images are used in the poem? Range of colour images? What range of classical references are used, and for what purposes?
To whom is the poem addressed? What does the speaker ask of himself and of (presumably) her? Do we need to know more?
What does the speaker advocate as a refuge in a chaotic world? What effect is created by introducting the "love" in stanza 3?
What is the speaker's assessment of the world? How do the sounds of the last stanza reinforce its meaning?
What effect is created by the classical metaphor "Where ignorant armies clash by night"? What is the poem's final tone?
Do you find the conclusion satisfactory? What remains the only hope in the world?
Arthur Hugh Clough “Easter Day”
1. Why is the heart of the speaker hot “with heat fiercer than flamed above my head”?
2. The poem is formally an ode (like the ones written by Wordsworth and others). Generally, what is the function of the ode and why is it written? How does “Easter Day” fulfill (or fail to fulfill) this purpose?
3. What is the refrain of the poem? Why does Clough choose this phrase to be repeated over and over again?
4. In the first part of the poem Clough deconstructs the biblical account of what happened after Christ's death. How does he interpret these events?
5. In the second part of the poem Clough interprets the results of the fact that “Christ is not risen” on his disciples and humankind in general. What are these results?
6. What in your opinion is the general tone of the poem? How do you interpret the question mark at the end of the final line?
7. If Jesus is not an immortal God from Clough's point of view, who is he then in his opinion?
8. The poem is full of quotations and references to the Bible, but how are they used? For instance, cf. line “Ye hills, fall on us, and ye mountains, cover!” with the original context in which these words are spoken by Jesus (Luke 23:30).
Thomas Hardy “Hap”
1. The poem starts with a long conditional sentence. What view of God/god is proposed in the first stanza? What effect the existence of such a god would be on the speaker?
2. After “But not so..” comes the poet's view of the real order of the universe. Its rulers are personified figures whose names start with capital letters. Who are they and how do they rule the world?
3. What would the speaker prefer: the hypothetical god from the first stanza or the universe as he perceives it now?
4. What is the meaning of the word “hap”?