Alfred Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson This short poem has been composed by Alfred Tennyson. It is an expression of his personal grief. But it is more than an individual cry of pain and despair. He has presented as a universal characteristic of our world. He has drawn a picture of permanent and lasting images in contrast with temporariness of human life. tennyson ,break break break, It clearly shows that man passes away so quickly but the scene of nature remains the same. In this poem the poet mourns the death of a dear friend who will never come back. He depicts the picture of sea and its waves constantly striking against cold gray stones. He also draws the image of fisher man`s boy singing in his boat or at play with his sister and the grand ships coming to the harbour. He believes that these images are more abiding than the Life of a man. The poet thinks that these things remain unchanged. The world continues to be busy and beautiful. but the happy moments of one`s life never stay. Human life changes from childhood to youth. then to old age and finally embraces death. As man grows old the sweet memories of his life become a part of the vanished past. Thus. between past and present man suffers and complains. The poet is missing his lost friend while standing on the sea bank. He expresses his sorrow that he will never feel the soft touch of that hand and will never hear that voice again. On the fact. the poem looks sad and depressing. But the grief is set against things which are permanent Themes Grief The main theme is bereavement, heartache, emptiness. 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. 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 fall 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 The narrator grieves the loss of his friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, a promising poet and essayist who had been engaged to Tennyson's sister, Emily. Hallam died of a stroke in 1833 when he was only 22. Nature, of course, does not stop to mourn the loss of anyone. Cold and indifferent, it carries on, the waves of the ocean breaking against rocks along the seashore without pausing even for a moment. The rest of the world carries on as well: the fisherman's boy happily playing with his sister, the sailor merrily singing, the ship busily plying the waters of commerce. Downcast, isolated by his grief, the narrator yearns to touch the hand of his friend once more, to hear the sound of his voice. But, no, Hallam is gone forever; his "tender grace" will never again return.