Read this excerpt: Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find alsh in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
-
Matthew Arnold, "Dover Beach"
What is Arnold comparing to "human misery" in this excerpt from "Dover
Beach"?

London includes a quote about john thornton as he is observing hal attempt to motivate the exhausted dogs "it was idle, he knew, to get between a fool and his folly". if the word "idle" is defined as "of no real worth, importance, or significance", what does this statement mean with regard to hal? who is the fool? what is hal's folly? why would john thornton think it of no real worth or useless to intervene?