'The Dover Bitch: A Criticism Of Life' by Anthony Hecht

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So there stood Matthew Arnold and this girl
With the cliffs of England crumbling away behind them,
And he said to her, "Try to be true to me,
And I'll do the same for you, for things are bad
All over, etc., etc."
Well now, I knew this girl. It's true she had read
Sophocles in a fairly good translation
And caught that bitter allusion to the sea,
But all the time he was talking she had in mind
the notion of what his whiskers would feel like
On the back of her neck. She told me later on
That after a while she got to looking out
At the lights across the channel, and really felt sad,
Thinking of all the wine and enormous beds
And blandishments in French and the perfumes.
And then she got really angry. To have been brought
All the way down from London, and then be addressed
As sort of a mournful cosmic last resort
Is really tough on a girl, and she was pretty.
Anyway, she watched him pace the room
and finger his watch-chain and seem to sweat a bit,
And then she said one or two unprintable things.
But you mustn't judge her by that. What I mean to say is,
She's really all right. I still see her once in a while
And she always treats me right. We have a drink
And I give her a good time, and perhaps it's a year
Before I see her again, but there she is,
Running to fat, but dependable as they come,
And sometimes I bring her a bottle of Nuit d'Amour.



[Ed. note: See Matthew Arnold's poem "Dover Beach"]

Editor 1 Interpretation

The Dover Bitch: A Criticism of Life

Introduction

The Dover Bitch is a poem by the American poet Anthony Hecht that was first published in 1968. This poem is a response to the famous poem by Matthew Arnold, Dover Beach. Hecht's poem is a criticism of Arnold's portrayal of life as a hopeless and meaningless existence. Hecht's poem is a clever parody of Arnold's poem that uses humor and satire to challenge the pessimistic view of life that Arnold presents.

Analysis

Hecht's poem is a parody of Arnold's poem in both form and content. The poem is written in the same form as Arnold's poem, with four stanzas of varying lengths and a consistent rhyme scheme. Hecht uses this form to create a sense of familiarity for the reader, as well as to draw attention to the differences between the two poems.

The content of Hecht's poem is a direct response to Arnold's poem. Hecht's speaker is a young woman who has just had sex with a man she met at a bar in Dover. The speaker is dismissive of Arnold's portrayal of life and instead celebrates the joy and pleasure of physical love. The speaker says:

"F--k you," Said the girl at Dover Beach, "The world's much nicer than that. It's just you poets who make it bleak And full of despair."

Hecht's speaker is a direct challenge to Arnold's speaker, who laments the loss of faith in God and the meaningless of life. Hecht's speaker celebrates the physical pleasures of life and rejects the idea that life is meaningless. Hecht's poem is an affirmation of life and the pleasures that it can bring.

Hecht's use of humor and satire is particularly effective in this poem. Hecht's speaker is irreverent and dismissive of Arnold's speaker, which is a departure from the serious tone of Arnold's poem. Hecht's poem is also filled with puns and wordplay that add to the humor and lightheartedness of the poem. For example, the speaker refers to the man she slept with as "Dover Bitch" and describes him as "a sort of walking orgasm".

The use of humor and satire in this poem is not just for entertainment purposes. Hecht uses humor to challenge the idea that life is hopeless and meaningless. The speaker's irreverent attitude towards the serious themes of Arnold's poem is a deliberate attempt to undermine the pessimistic view of life that Arnold presents. Hecht is saying that life can be joyful and fulfilling, and that physical love is one of the things that can bring us joy.

Interpretation

The Dover Bitch is a criticism of life in the sense that it challenges the pessimistic view of life that is presented in Dover Beach. Hecht's poem is an affirmation of life and the pleasures that it can bring. Hecht is saying that physical love is one of the things that can bring us joy and that life is not hopeless and meaningless.

Hecht's poem is also a criticism of the role of the poet in society. Hecht suggests that poets have a tendency to make life seem bleak and full of despair. Hecht's speaker is dismissive of Arnold's portrayal of life and suggests that it is only poets who see life in this way. Hecht is challenging poets to be more optimistic and to celebrate the joy and pleasure of life.

Hecht's use of humor and satire is a deliberate attempt to undermine the seriousness of Arnold's poem. Hecht is saying that life is not as serious as Arnold makes it out to be, and that we should not take ourselves too seriously. Hecht's poem is a celebration of life and the pleasures that it can bring.

Conclusion

In conclusion, The Dover Bitch is a clever parody of Matthew Arnold's poem, Dover Beach. Hecht's poem is a criticism of life in the sense that it challenges the pessimistic view of life that Arnold presents. Hecht's poem is an affirmation of life and the pleasures that it can bring, and a criticism of the role of the poet in society. Hecht's use of humor and satire is a deliberate attempt to undermine the seriousness of Arnold's poem and to challenge poets to be more optimistic. The Dover Bitch is a poem that celebrates life and the joy and pleasure that it can bring.

Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation

The Dover Bitch: A Criticism Of Life, written by Anthony Hecht, is a classic poem that has been widely analyzed and discussed by literary scholars and enthusiasts alike. This poem is a satirical take on Matthew Arnold's poem, Dover Beach, and it critiques the idea of romantic love and the disillusionment that comes with it.

The poem begins with the speaker, who is a woman, describing her encounter with a man who recites Arnold's poem to her. She is unimpressed by his recitation and dismisses it as "bullshit." The speaker then goes on to describe her own experiences with love and relationships, which are far from the idealized version of love that Arnold's poem portrays.

Hecht's use of language and imagery is particularly noteworthy in this poem. The speaker's language is colloquial and informal, which contrasts with the elevated language used in Arnold's poem. This contrast highlights the difference between the speaker's experiences with love and the idealized version of love that Arnold's poem portrays.

The speaker's description of her own experiences with love is also vivid and powerful. She describes her relationships as "a series of love affairs, disastrous to my heart and to my credit." This line is particularly striking because it highlights the speaker's disillusionment with love and her own sense of self-worth.

Hecht also uses imagery to convey the speaker's disillusionment with love. The speaker describes her relationships as "a series of train wrecks," which is a powerful metaphor that conveys the sense of destruction and chaos that love has brought into her life.

The poem's title, The Dover Bitch, is also significant. The word "bitch" is a derogatory term used to describe women, and it is often used to imply that women are promiscuous or immoral. By using this term in the title, Hecht is highlighting the double standards that exist in society when it comes to men and women and their sexual behavior.

Overall, The Dover Bitch: A Criticism Of Life is a powerful and thought-provoking poem that critiques the idealized version of love that is often portrayed in literature and popular culture. Hecht's use of language and imagery is particularly effective in conveying the speaker's disillusionment with love and her own sense of self-worth. This poem is a must-read for anyone interested in exploring the complexities of love and relationships.

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