Thought for the day
Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach read by Richard Wallace
Dover Beach
BY MATTHEW ARNOLD
The sea is calm tonight.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Ægean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
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
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
More blog posts
Kingdoms of Europe card game, circa 1895 Jaques & Son, 102 Hatton Garden, London
Preached by the Revd Dr Brutus Green
Preached by Canon Dr Stephen Spencer
Preached by Canon Dr Stephen Spencer
The diocesan synod, as well as receiving all the usual reports from bishop's council, general synod and the diocesan board of education, heard that if everyone increased financial giving by the cost of one cup of coffee per week, the diocese's shortfall would be eliminated! The diocesan strategy, Transforming Church Together, TCT, was also discussed at length. The strategy can be summarised as: following Jesus, serving others, transforming communities. It is intended to enable churches to become more open and inclusive, and thereby, to achieve growth. Good news stories were heard of how the strategy had worked in practice, such as helping to turn a church around to make it much more effective in its local area, and on better terms with its neighbouring schools. The synod heard that, while, sadly, funding for Carbon Net Zero was paused at the end of 2025, due to financial constraints, work, intentions and commitment in this area has not ceased, and it is saving money on utility bills as a result. The synod voted to adopt the ten year financial plan. A written question was submitted about the need to increase diversity: the best we can come up with so far is... choose people to do things who are not like you, ask someone different! I shall attempt to do a short summary of each synod which I attend. I shall also undertake to write up all of last year's synods, in one document, but this involves condensing every set of minutes into a paragraph or so, and given that each is the size of a small book, that's quite difficult to do. We need four new deanery synod rep's, so please all put your names forward and be elected at the APCM. Thank you. Auriol Britton 21.03.2026
Preached by the Revd Dr Brutus Green
