Mira Daya
DUE: 10/11/17
Word Count: 503
Prompt 3: Which seems easier to identify with today: Whitman or Arnold?
After reading and conducting some research about both Whitman’s “Song of Myself” and Arnold’s “Dover Beach”, I have concluded that “Dover Beach” is easier to identify with today.
The poem begins with a calm and tranquil mood, the speaker and his companion are listening to the sound of the calm sea’s high tides, of “the pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling[...]”. As the poem progresses, the tone of the poem turns more serious as the speaker begins to describe the sea as “The Sea of Faith” where the sound of calming waves eventually become “melancholy, long, withdrawing roar[…]”. Eventually, the speaker shares his view of the world around him, he describes it as a beautiful land of dreams, however, there is no joy, love, light, certitude, peace, or even help for pain. He describes the world as somewhere where “ignorant armies clash by night”.
Thinking about our last election as well as the various bills and laws passed now and in the past few years, I began to think about the mood of the groups of citizens of the United States. For me, during the Obama administration, I felt similarly as the speaker does at the beginning of the poem. Things seemed calm to me, various laws were passed that were beneficial to my friends and family, and all seemed well on my side of the world. Now, as soon as we were assigned a new president, the world seemed to go into chaos for those of us who were at peace. Not just my side of the world, but the rest of the world as well seemed to be affected emotionally, and of course politically.
I relate back to the line “Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight”. Relating this back to reality, it seemed as though people were swept by confusion by this result and demanded recounting of ballots and questioning everything that may have lead us to our outcome. Many, many, people wanted to run away from it all together. (referring to increase in people wanting to move to Canada). People I knew were struggling from the racism that was brought on in large amounts following the election. I knew women who struggled to get themselves to go to class in fear of being violently harassed because they wear hijabs. It appears we too are met by ignorant armies in the sense that the world is now more of a battlefield, it seems as now, we must fight for the rights of our friends and families for than ever before. We can compare the ignorant armies to those who believe it is okay to take certain rights away from undocumented immigrants and their children or to the LGBTQIA community.
Overall, I believe that “Dover Beach” is more relevant to our current sociopolitical environment because it describes a world that, in view, seems calm and peaceful, but when you look at it as a whole it is chaos due to the battlefield created between citizens and their government.
I really like your interpretation of the poem and how you related it back to our current world. I did not even think of how this poem relates to the recent election when I first read it.
ReplyDeleteThat’s the beauty of poetry, it can evoke thoughts that may not at first seem related to the words itself, but with deep reflection, there can also be found deeper meaning. I also think it is amazing how you quite literally identified the poem with today’s current events. But there is a solution to the chaos, and that is to be true to one another. With all the conflict and strife in the world, the best way to get through all of that is through mutual understanding and acceptance of one another.
DeleteI think it would benefit your writing to elaborate a bit more on the poem quotes that you have included.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your argument Mira. The new world we live struggles to find equality for all and Arnold reflects on a time where misery was most evident and that has come full circle. The misery that he speaks of can be seen in the police brutality and the injustice we see on a day to day basis in the news.
ReplyDeleteThe comparison of recent politics to the interpretation of "Dover Beach" was not only interesting, but also very truthful. The beginning of the poem does seem very reminiscent of the good old days when Obama was president and the fact that you were able to make a comparison between these two subjects is truly amazing.I also appreciated how your use of quotes were effective and served a purpose in your analysis. Your post did a wonderful job answering the prompt and making a solid argument.
ReplyDelete