"Begin, and cease, and then again begin,..."See in text(Dover Beach)
In this line, Arnold fuses sound with meaning, form with content. The description of the tides pushing pebbles upon the shore is conveyed in language that is, like tides, rhythmic and cyclical. The iambic pentameter is crisp in its rising and falling cadences. Each word in the line contains an n in the final consonant sounds, producing a cascading effect. The only exception is “cease,” a thematically apt move that pauses the flow of n sounds in its evocation of the waves themselves pausing. Finally, the line both begins and ends with the word “begin,” a choice that subtly conveys the cyclicality of the tides, for which each end is always a beginning.
Each stanza of “Dover Beach” begins with a line of trimeter, a metrical effect that stands out from the pentameter that defines most of the poem’s lines. In this first case, the shortened trimeter conveys the content and tone of the line. The calmness of the sea is aptly conveyed with simplicity, concision, and an ensuing pause.
