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Complete the following sentence. Matthew Arnold's poem "Dover Beach" is illustrative of modernist poetry, because it________________?

Correct answer: B. has an undertow of nihilism.

  • A. employs free verse.
  • B. has an undertow of nihilism.
  • C. is chauvinistic about British "exceptionalism."
  • D. was composed between WW I and WW II.

Explanation

Dover Beach is Victorian rather than literally modernist, but its loss of religious certainty and bleak undertow anticipate modernist disillusionment. It is not written in free verse and predates both world wars.

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