Eng-3107
Break, Break, Break
A poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
A Study Guide
Type of Work and Date of Composition
“Break, Break, Break” is a lyric poem that Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) was believed to have
completed in 1834. It centers on Tennyson’s grief over the death of his best friend, Arthur Hallam, a
fellow poet. Lyrical poetry presents the deep feelings and emotions of the poet as opposed to poetry
that tells a story or presents a witty observation. A lyric poem often has a pleasing musical quality.
Form: Elegy (lament for the dead) written in four stanzas of four lines each: the first four and the last
six are about grief, and the third stanza falls short of giving happy life.
Tone: Mournful, nostalgic, understanding.
Rhyme scheme and Meter
Lines 2 and 4 of each stanza have end rhyme (abcb except 2 nd stanza (aaba)). The meter in the poem
varies (irregular trimeter), but the anapestic foot creates the musicality of the poem, as in the
following lines;
Lamb. Anapest. ..anapest.. ..iamb
But O/ for the TOUCH/ of a VAN/ished HAND,
..Anapest.. anapest.. ..anapest...
And the SOUND/ of a VOICE/ that is STILL/ Rhetorical Devices
Following are examples of figures of speech and other rhetorical devices in “Break, Break, Break”:
Apostrophe (lines 1 and 2): The narrator addresses the sea.
Personification and metaphor also occur in lines 1 and 2, for the poet regards the sea as a human
being.
Alliteration (line8); boat on the bay (Lines 9-12): Stanza 3 uses this figure of speech. (Line 15): day
that is dead
Repetition: Line 13 repeats the first two words of line 5.
Paradox: Touch of a vanished hand (line11), and sound of a voice that is still (line 12).
Themes: Grief, impermanence of life, preciousness of youth, indifference of nature.
The main theme is grief. In the narrator’s dark hour of grief, the sun rises, children laugh, business
goes on as usual. How could the world be so cruel and unfeeling?
Preciousness of Youth
Tennyson’s friend, Arthur Hallam, was only 22 when he died. The shock of Hallam’s death impressed
upon Tennyson how priceless youth is. To underscore this idea, and to express the agony he suffers
at the loss of young Hallam, Tennyson presents images of youthful joy: the fisherman’s son playing
with his sister and the “sailor lad” singing in the bay.
Eng-3107
Indifference of Nature
Nature continues to function according to its rhythms and cycles regardless of what happens, good
or bad, to human beings. The temperature may plummet just when a poor family runs out of fuel. The
sun may shine and the birds may sing in the middle of the bloodiest of battles. And the sea will rise
and fell in a defiant, unrelenting rhythm that refuses to acknowledge tragedy in the everyday life of
average men. Tennyson laments this cold indifference in “Break, Break, Break”.
Summary
Alfred, Lord Tennyson composed “Break, Break, Break” in 1835, two years after the death of his close
friend and fellow poet, Arthur Hallam. Because the poem’s speaker laments the death of a close
acquaintance, most readers read “Break, Break, Break” as an elegy to Hallam. Published in 1842, the
poem is often read alongside Tennyson’s “In Memoriam Α.Η.Η”.
In the poem, the speaker addresses the waves of the sea, telling them to crash against the rocky
shore again and again. Watching this happen, the speaker yearns for the ability to express troubling
thoughts that won’t go away. Looking out onto the water, the speaker watches a fisherman’s son
yelling out while playing with his sister, as well as a young sailor who sings while sailing through the
cove.
There are also impressive boats sailing through the bay, and the speaker envisions them passing into
ideal, somewhat heavenly destinations. But watching these ships doesn’t distract the speaker from
the memory of touching the hand of an acquaintance who no longer exists, whose voice has gone
silent forever.
Again, the speaker calls out to the waves as they smash against cliffs along the
Shoreline again and again, feeling that the easy happiness of previous days will never return.
1. Who or What is being addressed in the first line?
