Allegory: Dover Beach

"The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
It's melancholy, long, withdrawing roar..."

The author of this poem expresses his feelings on science and religion through the speaker's view of the ocean and nature. The sea symbolizes the world. As it washes upon the shore when the writer is listening, he hears the repetitive sound of the misery of humankind. This is caused by science and its destruction of faith in God and believing in his power. The speaker says that there was once goodness in the world when the Sea of Faith washed upon the earth's shore, and it was beautiful. This was before science and when people trusted in God. But now, men don't believe in love or feelings; they believe in science. the the world lacks the joy, love, and light that it once possessed. The author doesn't understand how people could so easily abandon God. He himself only has to look at the ocean, the stars, and the wonderful land forms around him to feel God's presence. He asks the question how can Darwin support evolution when "the cliffs of England stand glimmering and vast" and how can Lamarck have supposed this theory when "on the French coast the light gleams". To the author, these are proof that God must exist, and he is sad that humanity has gone so far astray.