Poetic Analysis Adn Styles Appreciation

Alfred Lord Tennyson "Break, Break, Break"

The poem "Break, Break, Break" is a short four stanza poem with each stanza containing four lines wit irregular syllables. The rhyme scheme throughout the four stanzas takes the ABCB scheme and the poet uses this particular rhyme scheme for a particular reason as will be seen herein. From the onset, it is expressed that this is an internal dialogue that the persona is having with self and nature. He speaks to the internal emotions and feelings as well as the nature around him.

The persona in the poem is a sad individual seated motionless by the sea, overwhelmed by emotions of how indifferent the nature and the people around him are to his emotional predicament of losing a person he was close to, most likely a friend or lover. He looks at the ways from the sea, and they repeatedly batter the rocks by the shore as usual, he looks at the fishermen's son and he enjoys playing with the sister as usual, he looks at the sailor and he is happily preoccupied with his singing in his boat as works, he looks at the stately ships right ahead in the sea, and they peacefully sail to their definite safe and definite destination and looks at himself and he is emotionally broken due to lack of a hand to hold on to. The persona is a total contrast of the events around him, everyone seems to go about their activities with certainty and zeal, but the persona is swallowed in waves of emotions internally, with no one to help.

The persona is seen to have a very pessimistic tone since he sees no possibility of ever having back his joy, all he sees is a vanish'd hand and tender grace of a day that is dead

Will never come back to me. He does not see any emotional stability any soon, just like the sea that breaks at the foot of its crags. This helps bring out the main theme of the poem, a state of utter desperation in an individual who has lost a loved one, and how hard it is for the human heart to overcome emotional breakdown despite being surrounded by positive events.

One of the outstanding poetic technique that the poet has employed herein is repetition, the word 'Break' is repeated at the opening line in stanza one to create the imagery of the waves hitting the rocks on the shore. The word "O well" is also repeated to give an emphasis to the jealousy the persona has on the people around him who are enjoying their daily routine in contrast to his emotions. The use of the ABCB rhyme scheme throughout the poem is meant to keep reminding the reader of the image of the regular and continuous waves hitting the shore. The sea has been personified in the poem by the persona speaking to the sea in stanza one and stanza four as though the sea was listening, the persona describes the actions of the sea as though it is human, like "break at the foot of thy crags, O sea." This personification helps elicit the emotional contrast between the persona who is unable to express his feelings in words and the jovial sea that carries on its activities as though nothing wrong has happened. The use of imagery in stanza one is also outstanding in the poem, the poet introduces the reader to the "cold grey stones" by the sea to give a gloomy and moody picture from the onset. The detailed description of the sea shore where the persona is seated creates imagery that guides the reader to the somber mood that he expects throughout the poem after that.