Crossing
the Bar" is a poem by the British Victorian poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
The poem, written in 1889, is a metaphorical meditation on death, which sees
the speaker comparing dying—or a certain way of dying—to gently crossing the
sandbar between a coastal area and the wider sea/ocean. In essence, it is a
poem that argues that death is in fact a kind of comfort, a point of view based
on the speaker's religious faith in the afterlife. Accordingly, the speaker
wants to die quietly and gently, without fear, reassured by the knowledge that
what comes next is a meeting with God. "Crossing the Bar" was written
shortly before Tennyson's own death, and is the poem that Tennyson wanted
placed at the end of all future collections and editions of his poetry.
The
first stanza begins with the speaker describing the atmosphere. He views the
setting sun and evening star in the sky. Someone is calling him. It is clear
unmistakable call. In fact it is the call of death. He opines the death is
close. His life is drawing to an end as well. The death has been compared with
crossing bar. The speaker wants his death to be smooth like calm sea wave. He
hopes his death should be silent, smooth and quick making no fuss.\
The
poet uses the metaphorical expression exemplifying with river and the sea for
his desire to death. The complete cycle of the rain has been expressed with
allegorical expression as he will return to the place where he has come from.
The second stanza has the continuation of the expression of the first stanza. In
the third stanza the speaker again describes the atmosphere to convey his inner
feeling. It was sunset where the speaker began the poem, but it is twilight.
The sun has already gone down the horizon and dusk is setting. The sound of the
evening bell is heard by the speaker. It indicates the approach of night. The
twilight has been used to point out his life. His life is about to end. It
depicts the miserable state of the speaker.
The
speaker hopes for no sadness as he uses ‘sadness of farewell’. It has double
meaning: the speaker sadness or sadness of the people. The word when I embark
means the state of the death. It means death is not end rather it is a new
beginning.
In
the final stanza the positive attitude towards death is presented. The speaker
has accepted the reality of the life that is death. He will be beyond the
boundaries of time and space and will be wash away with the flood of the death.
