Two related motifs that I noticed reoccurring in Beachy Head were the ideas of division and distancing. In the first few stanzas alone we see the cliffs dividing the land from the sea, the idea that the continents of England and France were divided and have separated a great distance, the sun separating itself from the sea as it rises, the sailors who are divided into those who sail by day and by night, and England “parting the hostile nations.” Later these motifs appear when Smith describes the two different hermits’ relationships with nature and humans. Smith seems to argue that being in nature quells the pain that comes from being separated from one you love by a great distance, for even though he longs for his love “The visionary, nursing dreams like these, / Is not indeed unhappy. / Summer woods / Wave over him, and whisper as they wave, / Some future blessings he may yet enjoy.” Smith also seems to claim that living a hermit’s life in nature and separating oneself from society doesn’t cut a person off from others. Even though the man dwelling in the cave lives alone he still makes connections with sailors by saving them from drowning during storms. Also, even though he is isolated from others he is still in their thoughts as the shepherds check on him after the storm and while he has supposedly divided himself from society he is still awarded funeral rights instead of being left to nature’s elements.
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