In Reply to: Tennyson posted by R. J. Burton on November 14, 1999 at 16:09:36:
Break, break, break is possibly my favourite poem. It expresses the deep feelings of grief better than any other poem I can think of. You ask what it is about. You’re probably familiar with the outline of Tennyson’s life. His great friend Arthur Hallam died leaving Tennyson grief-stricken. For the rest of his life Tennyson wrote poems expressing his grief (including his most famous work, In Memoriam). In this poem the author is standing at the sea-shore. The description of the man mending his boat, the children at play, and the stately ships is just to show how people are just going about their normal lives, oblivious to the author’s grief and pain. The waves breaking on the cold, grey stones, represent the author’s heart that is quietly breaking