Eternal note of sadness.

This remarkable line is quoted from Matthew Arnold's one of the most famous elegies, "Dover Beach" which is published in 1867 in "New Poems".

         Arnold here gives his own feeling of gloominess and sadness at the crumbling away of the religious faith and speaks of the loss of true love which is the principal ingredient of religion. This line records the deep rooted melancholy of a man oscillating between time and eternity, doubt and faith.

         Matthew Arnold here deals with the loss of faith and it's destructive power which makes distance among the common fellow beings. The poet uses the imagery of the sea to show his thought of the loss of faith. The poet sees that the heating roar of the sea waves throwing the pebbles off the shore, which is heard  intermittently and rythmically. The sound forms the sad, slow music of humanity which permeats the Victorian society.

           The eternal note of sadness is caused by the endless battle without victory and without truce between sea and land. Here Arnold's sadness, loneliness, and melancholic mood is reflected. As he watched the ebb and flow of the sea, he became painfully aware of the fluctuating fortunes of humanity and the ups and downs of human misery. The ebbing of waters reminds him of ebbing of faith in God and Religion.