Poetry & Analysis
Selected Poems
Sad PoemsDover Beach
The sea is calm to-night.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits;—on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanch’d land,
Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Ægean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl’d;
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
Overview Short Summary
Arnold’s poem moves from a calm night scene to deep uncertainty about faith, peace, and human suffering. It fits the worry keyword cluster because it names a world without certitude, peace, or help for pain.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Uncertainty: The retreating Sea of Faith suggests spiritual and cultural doubt.
- Worry about the world: The poem turns private feeling into a broader anxiety about human life.
- Love as refuge: The speaker turns to faithfulness between two people as a response to uncertainty.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is meditative and anxious, while the mood becomes increasingly dark and unsettled.
Craft Literary Devices
- Sound imagery: The grating roar of pebbles carries the “eternal note of sadness.”
- Metaphor: The Sea of Faith represents lost certainty and retreating belief.
Leisure
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
Overview Short Summary
This famous short poem begins with life “full of care,” making it a natural fit for poems about worry, stress, and peace of mind. It suggests that constant busyness can make people miss beauty.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Stress and busyness: The phrase “full of care” points to a worried, hurried life.
- Mindfulness: The poem values slowing down and looking carefully.
- Beauty: Nature and beauty become remedies for anxious living.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is simple, reflective, and gently critical, with a calm mood.
Craft Literary Devices
- Repetition: The repeated “No time” emphasizes how much hurry steals from life.
- Personification: Beauty is imagined as a figure whose glance and smile can be noticed.
Peace
My soul, there is a country
Far beyond the stars,
Where stands a winged sentry
All skilful in the wars:
There, above noise and danger,
Sweet Peace sits, crown’d with smiles,
And One born in a manger
Commands the beauteous files.
He is thy gracious friend
And—O my soul awake!—
Did in pure love descend
To die here for thy sake.
If thou canst get but thither,
There grows the flow’r of peace,
The rose that cannot wither,
Thy fortress, and thy ease.
Leave then thy foolish ranges;
For none can thee secure
But One who never changes,
Thy God, thy life, thy cure.
Overview Short Summary
Vaughan’s poem presents peace as a spiritual country beyond noise and danger. It works well for searches around poems about peace of mind, worry, and comfort.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Peace of mind: Peace is imagined as a place of safety above danger.
- Faith: The poem offers spiritual trust as an answer to fear.
- Security: The speaker looks for a protection that does not change.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is devotional and consoling, while the mood is calm and reverent.
Craft Literary Devices
- Allegory: Peace becomes a place, a rose, a fortress, and an ease.
- Apostrophe: The speaker addresses the soul directly.
Remember
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you planned:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
Overview Short Summary
Rossetti’s sonnet touches the worry of death, memory, and grief. Its final movement is gentle: love does not want the beloved trapped forever in sadness.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Grief and worry: The speaker imagines the pain of being remembered after death.
- Love: The poem values the beloved’s peace over strict remembrance.
- Letting go: The ending releases the beloved from the duty to grieve.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is tender and selfless, while the mood is sad but peaceful.
Craft Literary Devices
- Volta: The sonnet turns from asking to be remembered to allowing forgetfulness and happiness.
- Symbolism: The silent land represents death and distance.
Up-Hill
Does the road wind up-hill all the way?
Yes, to the very end.
Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?
From morn to night, my friend.
But is there for the night a resting-place?
A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.
May not the darkness hide it from my face?
You cannot miss that inn.
Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?
Those who have gone before.
Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?
They will not keep you standing at that door.
Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?
Of labour you shall find the sum.
Will there be beds for me and all who seek?
Yea, beds for all who come.
Overview Short Summary
This question-and-answer poem is perfect for worry and uncertainty because it gives calm answers to anxious questions about the road ahead, darkness, rest, and comfort.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Uncertainty: The speaker asks worried questions about the journey.
- Rest: The poem promises shelter after difficulty.
- Faith and endurance: The road is hard, but the ending is secure.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is gentle and reassuring, while the mood is calm and hopeful.
Craft Literary Devices
- Dialogue: The poem’s question-and-answer form dramatizes worry and comfort.
- Allegory: The uphill road represents life, struggle, and the journey toward rest.
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