Break, Break, Break Themes
Death
The speaker of "Break, Break, Break" never comes out and says that his friend is dead, but his complaints about wishing to "touch" the "vanish'd hand" and to hear "the voice that is still" make us...
Sadness
In "Break, Break, Break," the speaker seems to worry about how much sadness is too much – when is he allowed to get over his grief and enjoy the sights and sounds by the sea again? Is it di...
Time
The repetition in "Break, Break, Break" both suggests the consistency of the speaker's grief and also its slow-but-steady evolution. The second line of the final stanza sounds like the second...
Language and Communication
The speaker of "Break, Break, Break" tells us that he can't express his thoughts or his grief, but then he goes on for three more lyrical, lovely stanzas about how much he misses his dead friend.&#...