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To Go
Break, Break, Break
by
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Home
Poetry
Break, Break, Break
Analysis
Symbolism, Imagery, Wordplay
Intro
The Poem
Summary
Analysis
Themes
Quotes
Study Questions
Best of the Web
How to Read a Poem
Symbolism, Imagery, Wordplay
The Sea
Utterances
The "vanish'd hand"
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Table of Contents
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Break, Break, Break Symbolism, Imagery & Wordplay
There’s more to a poem than meets the eye.
The Sea
The sea is an appropriate image in this poem. Have you ever heard the expression "the tide waits for no man"? Well, that's what the speaker is realizing in this poem, and it totally bums him out....
Utterances
The speaker is awfully interested in who gets to talk in this poem. In the first stanza, he says he wishes that he could express his thoughts, but he can't. Then he describes the kids who are sho...
The "vanish'd hand"
OK, there aren't any zombies in this poem, but the speaker's dead friend is still an important part of "Break, break, break" – after all, he's the motivation for writing. The speaker never comes...
