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:

• by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), no title, appears in Poems, Volume II, first published 1842 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Emanuel Abraham Aguilar (1824 - 1904), "Break, break, break", published 1864 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Thomas Anderton (1836 - 1903), "Break, break, break", published 1873 [ vocal trio and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by David Arditti (b. 1964), "Break, break, break", op. 3 no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John G. Barnett (1802 - 1890), "The song of the sea", alternate title: "Break, break, break", published 1851 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frank Bibb (b. 1887), "Break, break, break", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Blockley (1800 - 1882), "Break, break", published 1857? [ voice (or vocal duet) and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Karl Edmund) Otto von Booth (1842 - ?), "Break, break, break", published 1871 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Francis Boott (1813 - 1904), "O well for the fisherman's boy", published 1857 [ voice and piano ], from Florence, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
• possibly by William Boyd , "Break, break, break", published 1869 [ voice and piano ], note: may be by a different W. Boyd [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Hyatt Brewer (1856 - 1931), "Break, break, break", published <<1906 [ TTBB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Percy Carter Buck, Sir (1871 - 1947), "Break, break, break", published 1869 [ SATB chorus with optional piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Edward Bunnett (1834 - 1923), "Break, break, break", published <<1892 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Cecil Burleigh (1885 - 1980), "Break, break, break", published 1919 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Lewis Carey , "Break, break, break", published 1906 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by ? Cartwright, Mrs. Robert , "Stately ships glide on", published 1852 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frederick Arthur Challinor , "Break, break, break", published 1903 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Henry Clark , "Break, break, break", published 1928 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John H. Corina (1928 - 2014), "Break, break, break", 1969 [ tenor, oboe, piano ], from Sea Songs for Tenor, Oboe, and Piano [sung text not yet checked]
• possibly by Frank Rowland Cox (1819 - 1891), "Break, break, break", published 1858 [ voice and piano ], note: composer given only as F. R. Cox [sung text not yet checked]
• by Bainbridge Crist (1883 - 1969), "Break, o Sea", published 1948 [ SSA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arthur S. Darby , "Break, break, break", published 1928 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Eliza Davis (flourished 1840-1900), "Break, break, break", published <<1892 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by William Richardson Dempster (1809 - 1871), "Break, break, break", published 1864, copyright © 1864 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Norman Dinerstein (b. 1937), "Break, break, break", 1960, first performed 1960 [ mezzo-soprano and violoncello ], from Two Settings on Texts of Alfred Lord Tennyson [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles A. A. Düring , "Break, break, break", published 1873 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by E[dwin?] Edwards , "Break, break, break", published 1872 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Patrick Keen Enfield (b. 1929), "Break, break, break", published 1961 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ], from Three Victorian Lyrics [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Axel Fernström (1897 - 1961), "Break, break, break", op. 62 no. 1 (1942) [ coloratura soprano and string quintet or orchestra ], from Songs of the Sea, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by David Foltz , "Break, break, break", published 1964 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by A. F. Frere , "Break, break, break", published 1867 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Stephen Ralph Glover (1812 - 1870), "Break, break, break", published <<1892 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Goldbeck (1839 - 1908), "Break, break, break on thy cold grey stones, o Sea", published 1870 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Claude Haydon (1884 - 1960), "Break, break, break" [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Isador) George Henschel (1850 - 1934), "Break, break, break", published 1880 [ voice and piano ], in Songs from the published writings of Alfred Tennyson [sung text not yet checked]
• by Henry Hiles (1826 - 1904), "Break! break!", published 1892 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Sidney Homer (1864 - 1953), "Break, break, break", op. 6 (Eight Poems by Tennyson) no. 1, published 1901 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• possibly by E. Ellice Jewell (flourished 1880), "Break, break, break", published 1869 [ voice and piano ], composer given as E. Jewell [sung text not yet checked]
• by E. Ellice Jewell (flourished 1880), "Break, break, break", published 1869 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frederick Septimus Kelly (1881 - 1916), "Break, break, break", 1899 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frederic Kurzweil , "Break, break, break", published 1959 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Lavater (1867 - 1953), "Break, break", published 1925 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Henry George Ley (1887 - 1962), "Break, break, break", op. 8 no. ?, first performed 1919 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by May (Toupie) Lowther (1874? - 1944), "Break, break, break", published 1901 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by George Alexander MacFarren (1813 - 1887), "Break, break on the cold grey stones", published 1867 [ satb chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Edward B. Manning (1874 - 1948), "Break, break, break", published 1902 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Frederick John Easthope Martin (1882 - 1925), "Break, break, break", published 1915 [ voice and piano ], from Five Concert Songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by Russell Hancock Miles (b. 1895), "Break, break, break", published 1949 [ SSAATTBB chorus and 2 pianos ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Cecil Moore , "Break, break, break", published c1934-5 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by J. More , "Break, break, break", published 1855 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by W. H. Mudie , "Break, break, break", published 1909 [ mixed chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Myra , "Break, break, break", published 1861 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by William Harold Neidlinger (1863 - 1924), "Break, break, break", published c1906 or <<1906 [ mixed chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Herbert Stanley Oakeley (1830 - 1903), "Break, break, break", 1858 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by E. O'Beirne , "Break, break, break", published 1904 [ alto or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Albert R. Parsons , "Break, break, break", published <<1929 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Anthony Payne (b. 1936), "Break, break, break", 1996, first performed 1996 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John P. Paynter , "Break, break, break", published 1954 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alfred Humphries Pease (1838 - 1882), "Break, break, break", published 1862 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by A. J. Pecket , "O for the touch", published 1861 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by A. A. Pollock , "Remembrance", published 1861 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arthur Ray , "Break, break, break", published 1890 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Break, Break, Break", op. 110 (1946) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• possibly by Alfred Madeley Richardson (1868 - ?), "Break, break, break", published 1908 [ SSA chorus and piano ad libitum ], composer given only as A. M. Richardson [sung text not yet checked]
• by Roland Rogers (1847 - 1927), "Break, break, break, on thy cold grey stones", published 1904 [ ATTB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Cyril Bradley Rootham (1875 - 1938), "Break, break, break", c1904-8 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Stuart Ross , "Break, break, break", published 1944 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by James Shaw (1842 - ?), "Break, break, break", published <<1892 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Peter Pindar Stearns (b. 1931), "Break, break, break", 1951 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by M. Stydolf, Mr. , "Break, break, break", published c1886 [ voice and piano ], from Five Songs, from the Works of the English Poets, &c. [sung text not yet checked]
• by Emily Tennyson, née Sellwood (1813 - 1896), "Break, break, break", published 1897? [ voice and piano ], arranged for publication by Natalie Janotha [sung text not yet checked]
• by Eric Harding Thiman (1900 - 1975), "Break, break, break", published 1957 [ SSA chorus and piano ], from Six Sea Songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by J. G. Veaco , "Break, break, break", published 1891 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by János Végh (1845 - 1918), as Johann Végh, "Break, break, o sea, o sea!", 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 German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ian Venables (b. 1955), "Break, break, break", op. 33 (Six Songs) no. 5 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Richard Henry Walthew (1872 - 1951), "Break, break, break", published 1898 [ voice and piano ], from Album of Twelve Songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by Maurice C. Whitney (b. 1909), "Break, break, break", published 1968 [ SATB chorus or SSA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles Lee Williams (1852? - 1935), "Break, break, break", published 1926 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Edmund Yates , "Break, break, break", published 1919 [ soprano, mezzo-soprano, and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Zeta , "Break, break, break", published 1850 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Danish (Dansk), a translation by Christian Preezmann (1822 - 1893) ; composed by Peter Arnold Heise.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Alexander Winterberger.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Adolf Strodtmann (1829 - 1879) , no title ; composed by Heinrich Zöllner.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Eugen Oswald (1826 - 1912) , "Brich, brich, brich" ; composed by János Végh, as Johann Végh.
  • Go to the 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