"Break, break, break by Alfred Tennyson

Break, break, break,

On thy cold grey 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 vanished 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.

(Rhyme Scheme: a-b-c-b d-d-e-d)

Summary
The speaker is watching the sea whose waves are breaking on the "cold grey
stones". He is sad because "he cannot give voice to his thoughts." He hears the
shouting of the fisherman's boy with his sister while they play, and the young
sailor sings in his boat, but the speaker is in different mood. Other ships move
silently to their "haven under the hill," and this scene seems to remind him of the
absence of a dear friend he cared for. He cannot feel "the person's touch or hear
the person's voice". The speaker compares between the recurrent voice of the
colliding waves on the rocks and the "tender grace" of the bygone days
•with his friend that will never return to him
Analysis
The poem conveys the feelings of a person toward his lost friend. It was written in
1834 right after the sudden death of Tennyson's friend Arthur Henry Hallam, the
poem was published in 1842. Although some have interpreted the speaker's sorrow
as sadness over a lost lover, it probably reveals the feeling at any loss of a beloved
person in death, like Tennyson's depression over losing Hallam. Apparently, the
poem seems relatively simple and straightforward, and the feeling is easy to
distinguish: the problem of the speaker is that he could not express his sad thoughts
and his memories, compared with the vitality of the sea with its waves and ships.
The people around him don't probably reveals the feeling at any loss of a beloved
person in death, like Tennyson's depression over losing Hallam. Apparently, the
poem seems relatively simple and straightforward, and the feeling is easy to
distinguish: the problem of the speaker is that he could not express his sad thoughts
and his memories, compared with the vitality of the sea with its waves and ships.
The people around him don't care about his sadness and his great loss. The poem's
deeper attention is in the series of comparisons between the external world and the
poet's" internal world". The outer world represents real life, or the real field where
the speaker used to play. The inner world is what reflects on his mind according to
the influence of the outer world. The example in this poem is the loss of his friend
and his memories with him.

General meaning: This poem is about the sea and how the poet is not interested
in all the beautiful things around him because he's sad because he lost someone
that he loves.

Detailed meaning:
The First Stanza: the sea is beating the stones, and the speaker looks
Sad. that the sea is vital and moving while he is unable to express his sadness.
In addition, the sea does not care of what happens to his friend and does
not share him his sadness. The poet talks to the sea. The poet wished that he
could speak aloud or express his feelings just like the sea but he cannot express
them because his tongue fails to utter the words.

The Second Stanza: The poet envies the fisherman's children because they can
play and shout out of joy, he also envies the young sailor who is singing happily in
his boat.

The Third Stanza: The poet compares himself with his struggling thoughts to the
calm stately ships that are going to their haven to stop peacefully and quietly
after their long journeys.

The Fourth stanza: The poet repeats the first line of the first stanza again to show
that the sea will go on breaking, He is very sad because he feels that all the happy
days gone forever and none of them will come back to him

The poet intention: The poet wants to express his feelings and his sadness for the
death of someone he loves.
The poet in Break poem is very sad because he cannot express himself like them.
The harbor is described as under the hill in a quiet place that reflects a romantic
scene. Then he remembers the touch of his dead friends hand and the sound of
his voice ringing in his memory.

Figures of speech.
1. Contrast
There is a contrast between life and death and between the happy images (the
fisherman's children and the sailor lad) and the sad images (the poet himself).
2. Illustration
The fisherman's boy playing with his sister.
The sailor lad singing in his boat.
The ships moving smoothly to their harbor.
3. Repetition
In the title and in the fourth stanza (Break, Break, Break) to emphasize that the
life will go on.
1.Metaphor
(Cold grey stones) The color of the stones refers to the sadness.
2. Personification
(Foot of thy crags)
1. Alliteration:
a.The That
b.Boat Bay
c.haven hill
d.sound still
e.Day Dead

2. Rhyme:
a.Sea Me
b.Play Boy
c.Still Hill

Theme:
Lost
Sadness