of the Grating Roar As the poem progresses the sensory experience shifts from sight to sound It introduces a note of anxiety Arnold describes the sound of the waves hitting the shore Listen You hear the grating roar Of pebbles which the waves draw back and fling This auditory imagery describes the harsh and repetitive sound of the pebbles being dragged by the waves The use of words like grating and roar emphasizes the rough and unsettling noise Sophocles must have heard the same sadness and human suffering in the Aegean Sea as Arnold So Arnold writes Sophocles long ago Heard it on the gean and it brought Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow Of human misery Tactile Imagery of the Retreating Sea Arnold also uses tactile imagery to describe the sensation of the receding sea It evokes a feeling of loss and emptiness The imagery of the withdrawing roar and naked shingles creates a tactile sense of the sea pulling away It leaves the shore bare and exposed This imagery conveys a sense of desolation and retreat It mirrors the poem's themes of faith and certainty decreasing away Through these vivid sensory images Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach not only paints a detailed picture of the physical scene but also evokes deep emotional responses It enhances the poem's overall impact nbsp