In 1882, Langley settled in Newlyn, Cornwall. The subjects of his paintings were typically Cornish fishermen and their families. The title is taken from the Tennyson poem 'In Memoriam A. H. H'. First published anonymously in 1850, written in memoriam of his friend Arthur Henry Hallam, one verse of which reads:That loss is common would not makeMy own less bitter, rather more:Too common! Never morning woreTo evening, but some heart did break.