I would help them with what they were talking about and then bring back up the subject that was to start with.
Love this poem. Some of my suggestions for the attitude/tone are reflective, calm and thoughtful, inquisitive and hopeful and even some sadness.
In "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold, the speaker, in a world filled with misery, finds solace with his death. Since there is nothing he can do to change the world he lives in, the only solution and escape is death.
