What is the underlying theme of this poem? Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.

O, well for the fisherman's boy,
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;
But O for the touch of a vanish'd 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
Will never come back to me.

Question

What is the underlying theme of this poem? Break, break, break, 
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea! 
And I would that my tongue could utter 
The thoughts that arise in me.

O, well for the fisherman's boy, 
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; 
But O for the touch of a vanish'd 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 
Will never come back to me.

anonymous · Answer

Options are initiation, sadness, salvation, or rebirth