by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892)
Translation by Eugen Oswald (1826 - 1912)

Break, break, break
Language: English 
Break, break, [break,]1
  On [thy]2 cold grey stones, O Sea! 
And I would that my tongue could utter 
  The thoughts that arise in me. 

[O]3 well for the fisherman's boy, 
  That he shouts [with]4 his sister at play! 
[O]3 well for the sailor lad, 
  That he sings in his boat on the bay! 

And the stately ships [go]5 on 
  To their haven under the hill; 
But O for the touch of a [vanish'd]6 hand, 
  And the sound of a voice that is still! 

Break, break, [break,]1
  At the foot of thy crags, O Sea! 
But the tender grace of a day that is dead 
  Will never come back to me.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Poet's note: "Made in a Lincolnshire lane at five o'clock in the morning, between blossoming hedges." Written in memory of Tennyson's friend Arthur Hallam (d. 1833).

1 Végh: "o sea, o sea"
2 Manning: "the"
3 Manning: "Ah"
4 Manning: "to"
5 Manning: "sail"
6 Végh: "vanished"

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 110

Brich, brich o Meer...!
 (Sung text for setting by J. Végh)
 See original
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
Our translations:  ENG
  Brich, brich, O Meer, o Meer!
Brich am grauen Gestein!
Die Gedanken spricht meine Lippe nicht aus
Die du rauschst in mein Herz hinein!

O, wohl dem Fischermann’s Sohn
Der da jauchzt mit der Schwester im Spiel!
O wohl dem Matrosenbub'
Der da singet, geweiget vom Kiel!

  Und bald hat das stattliche Schiff
In Rückkehr den Hafen erreicht:
O wer bringt mir wieder den Druck jener Hand,
Den Laut jener Stimme, die schweigt?

  Brich, brich, O Meer, o Meer!
O Meer, o Meer, brich an deinen Felsen o Meer!
Doch die zarte Schönheit vergang'nen Tag's
Kehrt nimmer, kehrt nimmermehr!

Composition:

    Set to music by János Végh (1845 - 1918), as Johann Végh, "Brich, brich o Meer...!", 1868, published 1869 [ voice and piano ], from Zwölf Gedichte, Heft 2, no. 12, Pest: Táborszky & Parsch; Wien: F. Wessely; Leipzig: Fr. Hofmeister, Nr. 72, also set in English

Text Authorship:

Based on:

Go to the general single-text view

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-10-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 94