In "Dover Beach," the author Mathew Arnold makes reference to the Dover Strait, which separates England from France, and reflects about the loss of religious faith at the time. He also compares the pebbles waving back and forth with the sadness he experiences in life, which constantly comes and goes. In the excerpt he suggests that those pebbles are also regarded as the representation of misery to Sophocles, who, like him, felt melancholy looking at the sea.