Matthew Arnold signals his concern for the direction that
society is taking; particularly the loss of religious faith in this poem. His language
conveys this clearly.
One good example is the assonance in
the line 'melancholy, long, withdrawing roar' which gives the poem a sombre
feeling. Arnold also uses onomatopeia such as 'clash' which also signals a
feeling of fear.
His use of a metaphor in which he
describes the noise of the sea as containing 'The eternal note of sadness' also suggests
a feeling of melancholy as the sea is like faith; retreating. He talks about the 'Sea of
Faith' which was once 'full' and the poet fears that this will not be the case again.
Arnold also describes the armies that he imagines as 'ignorant' which conveys his
concern for what will replace religion-it does not appear to be
positive.
Arnold uses the technique of listing all the
things that the world is losing such as 'joy' 'love' 'peace' which underlines the
feeling of sadness and loss.
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