Break, Break, Break
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.
O, well for the fisherman's boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O, well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!
And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!
Break, break, break
At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.
"Break, Break, Break" is a poignant and melancholic poem by
Alfred Lord Tennyson, composed in 1834. The poem is known
for its emotive exploration of grief, loss, and the relentless
passage of time.
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The General Meaning.
The poem is about the poet feeling very sad because his best friend,
Arthur Hallam, has died. He misses him a lot and feels lonely. The
poet talks about how hard it is to lose someone he cared about so
much.
The poem is an Elegy the loss of Tennyson's friend, Arthur Henry
Hallam who died aged 22 in 1833 when Tennyson was only in his
mid-twenties when writing ‘Break, Break, Break’ in 1835). It
conveys his sorrow , sadness, tribulation ,and depression over a
lost friend.
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The Detailed Meaning.
Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.
"In the first stanza, the poet looks at the sea and wishes he could
express his sadness. He tells the waves to 'break, break, break' on the
stony shore. The crashing waves mirror his feelings of regret and
sorrow. The speaker struggles to find words for his grief, feeling unable
to fully express the depth of his emotions."
O, well for the fisherman's boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O, well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!
In the second stanza, the speaker repeats "O, well for the" at the
beginning of lines two and three, which is an example of anaphora. This
shows two different experiences. The "fisherman’s boy," his "sister," and
the "sailor lad" all feel the sea differently than the speaker. The sailor,
singing "on the bay," is happy and able to express his emotions, unlike
the speaker who feels sad.
And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!
In the third stanza, the speaker thinks about how life keeps going.
The ships continue their journey, but he wishes he could feel the touch
of someone who is gone and hear a voice that is no longer there. This
shows how much he misses someone and feels sad about the loss.
Break, break, break
At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.
In the fourth stanza, the speaker repeats "Break, break, break" as
he addresses the sea again. He watches the waves crash at the foot of
the cliffs, but he reflects on how the gentle beauty of a past day, now
gone, will never return to him. This expresses his deep sadness and
longing for something lost forever.
The poet’s intention
The poet wants to say that life never stops when someone dies or
suffers.
Grief and Loss: The speaker feels deep sorrow over the loss of
someone important to him. He longs for the past when that person was
still around, and this loss causes him pain.
The Passage of Time: The poem reflects how time keeps moving
forward, with life and nature continuing as usual. The speaker feels left
behind in his sorrow while the world moves on.
Inability to Express Emotion: Throughout the poem, the speaker
struggles to put his feelings into words. His deep sadness and grief are
complex and difficult for him to express. He wishes he could
communicate his emotions but feels helpless in finding the right words
to convey his inner turmoil.
Nature's Indifference: The sea and nature continue their actions
without any concern for the speaker’s feelings. The waves crash on the
shore and the ships sail on, showing that nature is indifferent to human
suffering. The speaker is reminded that, while he is in pain, the world
around him remains unaffected.
Contrast is a figurative device used by a writer to emphasize the
differences between two people, places or things. It's the opposition
between two objects, with their differences highlighted and explained.
the waves crash strongly against the shore, while the speaker
can't find the words to express his sadness. The waves keep going, but
the speaker feels stuck and unable to show his feelings.
Personification: the speaker talks to the sea as if it were a person.
He asks the sea to crash on the "cold gray stones," making the waves
seem like they are doing something on purpose, like a human action.
Metaphor is comparing unrelated concepts to evoke vivid imagery
and enhance our understanding of abstract ideas.
And the stately ships go on
which indicates the metaphor of a ship sailing into the sea to
represent the journey of life (Arthur’s life)
