Break,break,break                                                               

                 Alfred Tennyson      

Break, break, break,                         

On thy cold grey stones, O Sea!                    

And I would that my tongue could utter                 

The thoughts that arise in me.                          

O, well for the fisherman’s boy,           

That he shouts with his sister at play!                

O, well for the sailor lad,                     

That he sings in his boat on the bay!                

And the stately ships go on                      

To their haven under the hill;                    

But O for the touch of a vanished hand,              

And the sound of a voice that is still!                 

Break, break, break,                         

At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!                    

But the tender grace of a day that is dead              

Will never come back to me.                   

Break, break, break,

At the foot of the crags, O Sea!

But the tender grace of a day that is dead

Will never come back to me.

Form:

1. Line 2 and 4 of each stanza have the end rhyme.

2. The meter is not certain.

3. Alliteration: day that is dead

Notes:

Break: wave beats in the shore     

Bay: part of the sea that cuts into the shoreline

Crags: rough steep  masses of rock at the shoreline 

Paraphrase:
溅吧，溅吧，溅吧

溅吧，溅吧，溅吧，溅碎在
    你冷冷的灰岩上，哦大海！
但愿我的言辞能表达出
    我心中涌起的思绪情怀。

哦，那渔家的孩子有多好，
    他同他妹妹正边玩边嚷！
哦，那年轻的水手有多好，
    他唱着歌荡舟在海湾上！

巍巍的巨舶一一地驶去
    驶进他们山坡边的港口；

可是那相握的手已殒灭，
   那说话的声音已沉寂哦!

溅吧，溅吧，溅吧，溅碎在
    你脚边的巉岩上，哦大海！
但已逝往日的深情厚意，
    对我呀，已永远不会再来。

Figure of speech

Apostrophe: O sea

Personification and metaphor: (compare the sea to person)

Pun: break 1 > waves beat the shoreline; 2>heartbreak for the friend’s death.

Theme:

It shows that human’s life is short but the scene of nature remains the same. In this poem the poet 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 harbor. but he is sad for the death of his friend who will never come back.