Hello, i am Himanshi Parmar, as a part of Thinking activity task, here i write a blog about one of the famous poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, titled as a Break, Break, Break.
Break, Break, Break, is a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Written in 1835 and published in 1842. In the poem Break, Break, Break, Tennyson includes the themes of death, the power of nature, and change. The poem divided into four stanza. And each stanza has four lines. Let us firstly discuss about poet Tennyson and later on about the poem.
About Poet :-
Full name of the Tennyson is Alfred lord Tennyson. Was an English poet. He was the poet laureate during queen victoria's reign and remain as a most popular poet among British poet. He hold the laureateship for 42 years. He was born 6 August 1809 in united Kingdom. And died at 6 October 1892, in Lurgashall, United Kingdom, in 1829. He was awarded the chancellor's gold medal at Cambridge for one of his first piece, 'Timbuktu'. He wrote so many poems like, "the charse of the light Bridge", "Tears, idle Tears", "crossing the Bar", etc. He also wrote some notable blank verse including, "Idylls of the king", "Ulysses", and "Tithonus". He also try to write drama, but it can not earn much success. But his blank verse and phrases have became commonplace in English language. Now let me disccuss about one of his work named Break, Break, Break.
Poem Break, Break, Break :-
"Break, Break, Break" is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson written during early 1835 and published in 1842. The poem is an elegy that describes Tennyson's feelings of loss after Arthur Henry Hallam died and his feelings of isolation while at Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire.
Full poem :-
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.
-Lord Alfred Tennyson
Summary of the poem :-
Stanza -1
The first stanza of the poem Break, Break, Break, by Alfred Lord Tennyson presents the picture of the poet sitting near his friend's grave on the sea-beach as he says “Break Break, Break, On thy cold gray stones, O Sea! And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me”.
He is full of grief at the death of his friend, Arthur Hallam. He observes the waves striking. against the rocks. The poet sees the sea-waves rising, advancing and striking against the rocks. The rock-bound sea-beach is hard and would not melt in response. The poet feels that just as the sea is unable to express its sorrow, he himself is unable to do so. His sorrow is too deep for words. It is overwhelming, and in spite of his desire to give vent to it, he feels tongue-tied. The thoughts, which rise in the poet's heart, cannot find expression in words. Here we note a contrast between the waves which rise and strike against the rocks, and the poet's thoughts which arise and remain unexpressed. In these four lines, Tennyson reflects on the connection between the sea and himself. The sea breaks up on rocks much as the poet's thoughts seem to break up on his tongue before he can explain how he feels. This connection between the sea and the poet is reinforced by the fact that "Sea" rhymes with "me." In addition, the two lines about the sea and the two lines about the poet have the same three-beat rhythm. Tennyson could have directly stated how he felt by writing something like: "I wish I could tell you how rotten I feel today." By using poetry, however, Tennyson helped his readers both understand and feel how he felt.
Stanza 2 :-
O well …… on the bay! The idea is that there may be gloom in life the world at large, and specially the community of children is not seized with gloom. The merry-go-round of humanity continues uninterrupted. The grief of the poet becomes all the more poignant at the sight of cheerfulness of the fisherman's boy.
Stanza 3 :-
And the stately ship that is still! The poet imagines to be on the sea-shore near the spot where his dead dear friend lies buried. He observes that the life in the place is going on as usual. The fisherman's children and the sailor's boy are in a playful and pleasant mood. The ships coming from abroad are proceeding to their harbour below the hill to rest and pack themselves for further voyage. Thus, the trend of worldly life shows no signs of slackness or sadness. Only the poet is sad because his bosom-friend, Arthur Hallam, is dead, and the poet is deprived of his company and mutual conversation for good.
Stanza 4 :-
Break, break, break come back to me. These lines constitute the fourth stanza of the poem "Break, Break, Break", by Lord Tennyson. The poet is lamenting the death of his friend Arthur Hallam. He is standing near the spot of his friend's burial on the sea-shore. Seeing the waves of the sea beating against the rocks the poet feels that the sea might express its grief by lashing the coastal stones, but he himself would never enjoy the tender beauty of the days when his friend was alive.
Structure of Break, Break, Break :-
‘Break, Break, Break’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson is a four stanza poem that is separated into sets of four lines, known as quatrains. These quatrains do not follow a strict rhyme scheme but there are some good examples of perfect rhymes, such as “Sea” and “me” in stanza one. In regards to the meter, there are various patterns that change throughout the poem. There are many instances of trimeter, although the stresses change locations, there are other lines with more or fewer syllables.
Analysis of the poem :-
Stanza One -
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 of ‘Break, Break, Break’ the speaker begins by talking directly to the waves. This is a technique known as anaphora. He speaks to them although they are unable to respond. The speaker directs them to continue breaking powerfully against the “cold gray stones” of the shore. They hold a gloomy power that speaks to his emotional state at that time. He wishes, in lines three and four, that he could get his tongue to “utter / The thoughts” that are haunting him. He has thus far been unable to express his emotional state. It is too complex, or perhaps too dark, for him to find the words.
Stanza Two -
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, there is a good example of anaphora with the repetition of “O, well for the” at the start of linesmen and three. This phrase introduces the two different experiences that he sees around him. The “fisherman’s boy,” his “sister” and the “sailor lad” are all experiencing the sea differently than he is. These are good examples of juxtaposition, especially the young man who is singing “on the bay”. He’s finding joy in his life and the ability to express his emotions.
Stanza Three -
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 of ‘Break, Break, Break,’ the speaker takes note of “stately ships” that are sailing off into the distance. They too are living differently than he is. He hopes that they are going to a new land, somewhere sorrow can’t touch. But, the lovely sight of the ships doesn’t keep the speaker’s mind occupied for long. He is quickly brought back to the experiencing of touching a “vanish’d hand”. Tennyson might have been thinking of the hand of Arthur Hallam, his deceased friend. The voice that is now lost also comes to his mind. It appears that no matter what the speaker does, he can’t escape the memories of the person he lost.
Stanza Four -
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.
The fourths stanza begins with the repetition of the line “Break, break, break” which began the poem. He tells the waves again to break against the shore at the “foot of thy crags”. Tennyson used an exclamation point at the end of line two in order to emphasize his, or his speaker’s, passion.
Here i share one YouTube video of poem, sung very beautifully in the video.
Words :- 1288
Paragraphs :- 12
Images :- 2
Videos :- 1
References :-
1) Wikipedia.com
2) poetryfoundation.com
3) poemanalysis.com
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