Grief is one of the most powerful emotions that a human being can see. This is the prevailing subject of the verse form ‘Break, Break, Break ‘ by Alfred Tennyson, written around 1834, about a twelvemonth after the decease of his close friend Arthur Henry Hallam. ‘Break, Break, Break ‘ can be interpreted as a written illustration of the heartache felt by Tennyson at the loss of his friend. This essay will analyze the assorted techniques used by Tennyson to convey his emotion to the reader.
The repeat of the word ‘Break ‘ in the gap line, can be viewed on a figure of degrees ; at its most basic it can be seen to be a actual description of the moving ridges interrupting upon ‘they cold grey rocks ‘ , it could nevertheless, besides be depicting the grief felt by the voice of the verse form. When the repeat of the word ‘break ‘ is combined with the trimeter construction of the gap line, it forms a rhythmic round, akin to that of a ticking clock ; which symbolically can be perceived to stand for non merely the grim breakage of the sea, but besides the grim March of clip itself, which we all finally submit to. On another degree the interrupting moving ridges can be a metaphor for the moving ridges of emotion breakage over the voice, submerging them in their heartache.
In the concluding two lines of the gap stanza, the voice reveals their desire to pass on ‘The ideas that arise ‘ within them, this exhibits a high degree of sarcasm given that the whole of the verse form itself is an look of their ‘thoughts ‘ . The subject of communicating follows on into the 2nd stanza ; the descriptions of a ‘fisherman ‘s male child ‘ shouting with ‘his sister at drama! ‘ , and a ‘sailor chap ‘ vocalizing in ‘his boat on the bay! ‘ , both show illustrations of the universes ability to do noise which is in direct contrast to the voice. They both besides show that despite the voice of the verse form feeling as if the universe has ended, it has in fact carried on. The usage of an exclaiming grade at the terminal of both descriptions can be viewed to mean both the voice ‘s annoyance to these breaks to his soundless heartache, and besides their irritation at the universes looking indifference to their torment.
The 3rd stanza shows an illustration of Tennyson ‘s careful pick of words when depicting the finish of the ‘stately ships ‘ ; he chooses to utilize the word ‘haven ‘ alternatively of the more obvious seaport. This works because of the two different significances of the chosen word, when read in context it refers to the port where the ships are heading, nevertheless its alternate significance of a topographic point of shelter and protection tantrums absolutely with the implicit in subject of the verse form ; being that shelter and protection from their heartache is something that the voice is looking for. There is besides a point of involvement when observing the location of the ‘haven ‘ where the ships are heading, it is describe as being ‘under the hill: ‘ , this could be symbolic of being buried, which would bind in with the subjects of decease and heartache that are present within the verse form. The concluding two lines of the 3rd stanza reaffirm the longing felt by the voice, this clip for ‘the touch of a vanish ‘d manus ‘ , and to one time once more hear the ‘voice that is still! ‘ ; the impression of a tongueless voice is something that was originally seen in the gap stanza, this clip nevertheless the ‘still ‘ voice is referering to the deceased, this nexus is something with strengthens the nexus between the voice and the beginning of their heartache ; this nexus between voice and departed is something that strengthens the connexion of the two to the reader, leting the heartache of the voice ‘s loss to experience more reliable.
The concluding stanza starts with the repeat of ‘Break ‘ , seen in the gap line. This brings a sense of the verse form coming full circle and allows the reader to reason that the terminal is coming nigh. By utilizing this repeat one time once more it is established that the voice ‘s province of head and so the subject of the verse form remain steadfastly entrenched in heartache ; despite all that has gone before it the reduplication of the repeat of ‘Break ‘ construe that the voice ‘s bosom is still broken, so even that their head, organic structure and psyche are broken excessively. This besides forms a signifier of connexion between the voice and the deceased, where we have the literally dead individual, we besides have the voice themselves, who is sing a signifier of populating decease, isolated within their ain heartache unable to portion in the joy of the universe exhibited by the ‘fisherman ‘s male child ‘ and the ‘sailor chap ‘ , but besides unable to even pass on the huge sorrow that they are sing ; on both terminals of the spectrum of human emotion they are in isolation.
In decision upon reading ‘Break, Break, Break ‘ , the reader is left in small uncertainty as to what the prevailing subject of the verse form is. Tennyson achieves this on two degrees, foremost in a actual sense, upon an initial read through of the verse form we are presented with a description of a individual that has suffered loss and is sorrowing as a consequence ; Tennyson reinforces this them to the reader through clever usage of techniques such as repeat, construction and pick of linguistic communication and punctuation, these work at a degree where the reader does non hold to be consciously cognizant of them in order for them to win.
