Dover Beach is located in England, on the eastern shores near France. It is also the setting, and title of a poem written by a well educated man named Matthew Arnold, who is well known as the first modern critic of poetry. According to an article in The Literary Encyclopedia, Arnold was a very spiritual person, but claimed poetry prevailed over philosophy, science, and religion, due to the principle that those things are based on facts, which can be proven wrong over time. The article also said he believed poetry is an expression based on ideas, and ideas, which are faith, cannot be proven wrong. He was quoted by The Literary Encyclopedia as saying that poetry is "the breath and finer spirit of knowledge."

In 1867 Arnold wrote his most famous poem "Dover Beach." It was written only a few weeks after he was married and I believe it...