Thursday, 31 December 2015

"Break, Break, Break" - By Lord Alfred Tennyson

       "Break, Break, Break"




        By: Lord Alfred 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.

       Analysis:

        This poem is written in quatrains in irregular iambic tetrameter, which means in each stanza, the second and fourth line always rhyme, creating a natural rhythm. But the stressing and un-stressing of the syllables is irregular. Every line has almost three stressed syllables, even though the total amount of syllables per line changes.
        The poem is set by an English Coast. dreary, grey, and dull, with waves crashing against the rocks. This is reflected by the first stanza, in which Tennyson describes the waves breaking against the rocks and the bitter cold in the air which limits his speech. 
        The rest of the poem speaks of how Tennyson longs for friend who has recently died, as he reflects on his memories standing by the sea.
        Finally, the last stanza goes back to the beginning, starting with "Break, break, break At the foot of the crags, O sea! But the tender grace of a day that is dead Will never come back to me." These lines describe the waves crashing again against the rocks, and Tennyson mourns the death of his friend. 

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