English Poetry III: From Tennyson to Whitman.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. | | | | 631. Break, Break, Break | | | | Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) | | | | | | 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, | 5 | | 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; | 10 | | 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 | 15 | | Will never come back to me. | | | | |
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