Gemperle, Jose Fernando C.

21st Century Literature

12-STEM Mr. Glenn Beleber

Occasional Paper no. 2

Break, Break, Break by Alfred Lord Tennyson

(Formalist Approach)

The poem has four stanzas and is written as quatrain (each stanza has four lines). It has an
irregular number of syllables in each line and regular rhyme scheme; ABCB. Which means that the last
word of the second line and the fourth line agree with each other in terms of sounds. And there are also
literary devices that were used in this poem, these are: alliteration, apostrophe, metaphor and repetition.

Looking at the surface structure of the poem, it is shown that in the first stanza, the sea is striking
the cold grey stones. The persona seems to be frustrated since he thinks that the sea can move and make
noise as it batters the rocks while he is unable to utter whatever that is in his mind. This implies that he
wishes he could voice out his sad thoughts, and memories as what the sea could do. In the second stanza,
it indicates that the fisherman’s boy who shouts to his sister as they play, and the sailor lad that sings in
his boat possess joy whether together or alone, which he could not do. Thus, he might feel envious with
this because even the sea and others around him could do what he cannot. In the third stanza, it is
expressed that the speaker misses someone’s vanished hand to touch and the sound of his voice as he
sees the ships that are moving to the port. It is clear here that the persona is grieving for the loss of
someone that he loved and cared for. And in the last stanza, the speaker returns to the breaking of the
waves but not referring to the sea itself anymore, but to the reoccurring of his pain of loss as the waves
come again and again instead. Additionally, his blissful days with his loved one will never come back but
will remain as memories.

To conclude, Break, Break, Break is really a sad poem for it depicts a story of a man who lost
someone that is close to him or either a friend of his. Also, it shows how grieving he is for this person that
he loved, to the point that he could not utter any of his thoughts and memories that they had. And he
cannot express himself and feel happiness as what the others around him can do, in contrast. Thus, he is
imprisoned in his thoughts and great sadness.