Exploring Alfred Lord Tennyson's Poem Crossing the Bar
Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Crossing the Bar" reflects on the speaker's impending journey to the afterlife, symbolized by a calm sea voyage. The poem evokes themes of peaceful acceptance and the transition from life to death, with the speaker expressing hope to meet their "Pilot" on the other side of the bar. Tennyson's use of nature imagery and metaphors adds depth to the contemplation of mortality and the unknown beyond.
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1809-1892 Poet Laureate of Great Britain (40 years) http://safeshare.tv/w/IAE NaVjLhX Wrote Crossing the Bar in 1889 Legend has it that during a short voyage across the Solent the body of water that separates mainland England from The Isle of Wight (where Tennyson had a home) Tennyson got extremely sick. Requested that future editors place this poem last in collections of his work
Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For though from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar.
The speaker, who is headed out to sea soon, hopes that the tide will be calm, cool, and collected. He also hopes that when he sets sail, no one's going to make a big, sad show of saying goodbye; because while he might be headed into some dark times, he knows he's about to meet his Pilot, and this is not a bad thing.
The poem opens with the speaker talking about the "sunset" and the "evening star." It is the end of the day ("sunset"), and the evening star, which is actually the planet Venus, is rising. The end of the day is, apparently, a "clear call" for the speaker. But a "clear call" for what? To go home? Is there some kind of horn blowing? Consider your prior knowledge about Tennyson. Perhaps he is speaking metaphorically here about his approaching death. That would explain the sunset, and the call could be all those trumpets, beckoning him to Heaven.
The speaker hopes there will be no "moaning of the bar" when he puts out to sea. Sandbars often form in the mouths of rivers and harbors, and they're something you need to get past if you're hoping to set sail on the wide-open ocean. Apparently the speaker doesn't want the sandbar to be disturbed by his departure. But if we really are talking figuratively about death here (as we guessed in the first two lines), then we'll have to interpret what's going on in those terms. If he is talking about his departure from life (and not a literal departure from an actual harbor), then he doesn't want the sandbar, or anybody else for that matter, to make a huge fuss out of it. In that sense, the sandbar is a metaphor for the boundary between life and death, or life and the afterlife. And to reach the afterlife, he has to cross that bar.
The speaker would rather sail on "such a tide as moving seems asleep." This refers to high tide when that sandbar will be buried way beneath the water. In order for that to happen, the tide has to be "too full for sound and foam." In other words, the tide has to be high enough that waves won't break on the sandbar. He can just sail right over it, and be on his way. Not only is Tennyson using the metaphor of sailing to talk about, he's also using some figurative language to describe the sea on which he sails. He wants it to seem asleep as it moves, as if the sea were alive.
More tide metaphors here. The speaker is continuing the hope he laid out at the beginning of the stanza that when he sets sail for death, he wants the tide to be high. "That which drew from out the boundless deep"? That's the tide being drawn out into the sea (or "boundless deep") by the moon when the tide is low. "When it turns again home" refers to when the tide comes back in, filling the harbor and covering the sandbar. If the tide is in, that makes for smooth sailing for our speaker. He can cruise right out over that sandbar with nothing standing between him and the boundless deep. The tide, we are reminded, has done this before; its rhythm will not be interrupted by the death of the poet.
The speaker is setting sail after the sun has set, and planning to still be at sail when he reaches the open ocean. These lines call back to the first stanza, when the speaker cries, "sunset and evening star." Only here, the imagery has changed a bit. It's now twilight (not sunset), and he hears a bell, instead of a call. Time is passing it's a bit later in the process. The clear reference to Tennyson's 'moving on' enables us to interpret the image of evening as representing old age. The notion of passing time, evident in the physical darkening of the sky from 'sunset' to 'twilight' to 'dark' is echoed in the rhythm of the poem. The bell reminds us of two things: the bells you might hear on boats in a harbor, and the trumpets we mentioned in stanza 1, which call people to the afterlife.
Now, the speaker is are getting personal. When he finally sails on out of this harbor, he doesn't want the people he leaves behind to be upset. In fact, he doesn't even want these folks to say goodbye at all. In yet another echo of the first stanza, these words call back to the speaker's wish for no "moaning of the bar." The gist here is that the speaker simply wants to just slip away in the night. When he goes, he just wants to be gone.
First, he says he knows that "the flood," or sea may "bear [him] far," or take him far beyond the "bourne of Time and Place," or boundary of time and place. This is the first, unmistakable moment in which we know that the speaker is not talking about a weekend sail. Then, he says that, even though he knows this is happening, he is at peace because he thinks he's going to get to see his "Pilot face to face." Our speaker's Pilot (with that capital letter and all) is none other than God himself. Instead of a pilot of a boat, God has been the pilot of this speaker's life. When the speaker finally crosses that sandbar and reaches the open ocean when he finally crosses over into death, he'll come face to face with God in heaven.
The Ocean Night Sounds Sailing
Stanzas (Quatrains) Line length Rhyming lines Life and death
Questions About Death What is the speaker's attitude to death in this poem? Is he bummed, pumped, or somewhere in between? Why do you think the speaker chooses a sandbar as his metaphor for the boundary between life and death? Is it an effective comparison? Why or why not? What is the speaker referring to when he says "one clear call for me" (2)? Who's making the call? What is it calling him to?
Questions About Old Age Does the speaker seem like he cares about his old age? Why or why not? Does this poem only apply to people who grow old and die? Or can it apply to people who die before they reach old age? What are the benefits, if any, of old age? What are the benefits in this poem in particular?
Questions About The Home Can you relate to the speaker's journey to return home? Is death a kind of homecoming in any way? Does the speaker really think death is a homecoming, or does he just say that to make himself feel better? Who or what do you think is calling the speaker home?
Death is as peaceful and easy as putting out to sea. Death is not the end, but a new beginning. Old age brings a peaceful acceptance of death, and that's a very good thing. Death is a homecoming for the soul.
