quiet tide and the still night create a peaceful mood Arnold asks his beloved to come to the window and enjoy the sweet night air This beauty attracts the poet and gives him a moment of comfort Similarly in The Scholar-Gipsy and Thyrsis Arnold describes fields hills rivers and the Oxford countryside beautifully Thus nature first appears as a place of rest and beauty Nature Showing Human Sadness Arnold s nature also shows human pain and sadness In Dover Beach the sound of the waves becomes sad When Arnold listens carefully he hears the sound of the waves pulling pebbles back and forth He calls it The eternal note of sadness Here nature is not only beautiful it shows the pain and sadness of the human world The sea s sound reminds him that sorrow has always existed even in ancient times So nature becomes a symbol of continuous human misery Nature and Loss of Faith One of the most important ideas in Arnold s poetry is the loss of faith Nature helps him express this idea Arnold compares religious faith to a sea that once covered the whole world In the past faith was strong and comforting He says The Sea of FaithWas once too at the full But now that sea is withdrawing Faith is no longer strong Arnold can only hear its sad sound as it moves away from the world This clearly shows the Victorian crisis of faith As a result the world feels empty cold and unsafe Nature as Escape from Modern Life In The Scholar-Gipsy nature becomes a place of escape The modern world is full of noise competition and restlessness But the Scholar-Gipsy lives close to nature among the gypsies He remains free from this confusion The quiet fields and open air help him keep his mind fresh and peaceful Nature becomes a place where the soul can rest Arnold writes Thou hadst one aim one business one desire This line shows that the Scholar-Gipsy has a single purpose in life Unlike modern people his mind is not divided Thus Arnold shows that nature can save human beings from the disease of modern life Nature and Memory In Thyrsis nature is closely connected with memory and loss Arnold uses many natural images like trees hills flowers fields and the River Thames He remembers how he and his dead friend Clough enjoyed the peaceful countryside together But now everything has changed He writes Where are the mowers They all are gone and thou art gone as well These lines show how nature itself reminds the poet of the loss of his friend Nature here becomes a silent witness to human death and suffering At the same time it also keeps memories alive In fine Matthew Arnold s treatment of nature is deep and thoughtful Nature in his poems is not only beautiful scenery It reflects human sorrow spiritual loss memory and hope Sometimes nature gives peace sometimes it shows pain It helps Arnold express the Victorian crisis of faith and the sadness of modern life