Dover Beach: Conflicting Imagery In the poem Dover Beach, the poet uses conflicting imagery to give meaning to the poem. The differences in the way that the poet sees the relationship between the beach and the sea and the way that most people would see it become more pronounced as the poem develops. He also uses the change in attitude from the first stanza to the last to emphasize his message. The poem starts with the normal image one would expect of a beach and a peaceful moonlit night, but quickly moves to an entirely different point of view. By the end of the first stanza the sea is no longe