Dover Beach and Light Shinning out Of Darkness were written in 1769 and 1851. Dover beach was written by Matthew Arnold and light Shinning out Of Darkness by William Cowper. These poems are similar because they are both poems about religion. With Cowper, he writes and hymn/song which makes it more enjoying to read.
Light shinning out of darkness is about how “God is mysterious, his purpose will ripen fast” these show that even tho we don’t see go, whatever choices he makes they will always be for good and we will see them clearly. Gods wants us to have courage and if we do we will be rewarded for it, God wants us to trust in his grace and do not think he is mean but to see his kindness as Cowper describes as “behind a frowning provenance hides a smiling face”. Cowper thinks that if you do not believe in God then you are blind and he describes as “blind unbelievers sure to err”.
Whereas, just over 80 years later a poet named Matthew Arnold wrote Dover beach. As he wrote it in the Victorian period, more people gradually changed their religious views from Christians. In the first verse he tells us about where he is “on the French coast the light gleams”, he is in a beautiful place yet he writes a sad poem on his honeymoon. He then goes on to say when he hears the waves come in and out it reminds him of human misery. In stanza 3 he explains about the sea of faith about how it ” was once too, at the full and round earth shore”, he thinks that everyone has lost faith as it used to be full and everyone believed I God now it is retreating because now more people believe in science. In addition he finally writes about how he thinks the earth is a beautiful dream and the only thing that we don’t have is all the “joy, love light, certitude, peace, pain which people have no idea why they do not have as he writes “ignorant army’s clash at night” which ruin the beautiful earth that Arnold sees.
Light shining out of darkness and Dover beach similar poems by two very different poets. William Cowper was born in 1731 and in his life he suffered severe depression. He was an evangelical Christian which inspired him to writes hymn like poems. In 1773, Cowper was engaged to Mrs. Urwin, he experienced depression and thought that God wanted him to kill himself, so Miss Urwin didn’t marry him, but told him to write poems to keep him occupied which he then wrote a few poems for a magazine and one was light shinning out of darkness, so you can see why his poem is a bit depressing.
William’s poem say’s that life can be hard at times us that we should put it behind us and take courage from God, as he writes ” ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, the clouds ye so much dread”, it has a optimistic side of the poem. It is a hopeful poem and very religious. However with Dover beach. It is very pessimistic and sad, how he thinks that the world is not very a happy world because not everyone believes in a religion and they have started to believe in science instead of goad, Matthew describes the misery of the human race when he hears the sea so I do think this is a very depressing piece of poem.
