Answer:
Ebbs and flows in this context mean that human misery comes and goes.
Explanation:
The poem, Dover Beach, written by Matthew Arnold, uses the term 'ebbs and flows' to describe how human misery comes and goes. Ebbs and flows, in the context of sea movement, refers to the coming (flows) and going (ebbs) of the sea tides.
We can say that though hardships and miseries are experienced by all humans, eventually, it would all go away, drifting into the sea as we continue to live on and experience more happiness and betterment flowing in.
The stanza referred is this excerpt:
Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Ægean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
5 is definitely one, and maybe 3 for the second one? I’m not really sure.
This is Friar Lawrence speaking to Romeo. The line could be rephrased as
How many tears did you shed for the love of Rosaline and how many tears did it take to do that.
Romeo was really one love sick puppy over Rosaline and now he's even more gone on Juliet. Father Lawrence is just in awe of that transformation. Washed is a personification. You should go to this speech and read the rest of it.
Friar Lawrence is really giving Romeo a dressing down and in so doing, he is making a comment about the nature of men in general whose fidelity he thinks little of. It's a wonderful speech. Makes us humble to be called down that way.
