Reading II - Crossing the Bar Poem Summary
a. What does the picture show?
b. Where is the pilot leading the voyagers?
Crossing the Bar
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 tho' 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 crost the bar.
-Alfred Lord Tennyson
About The Poem
"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 to be placed at the end of all future collections and editions of his poetry.
Summary
The speaker heralds the setting of the sun and the rise of the evening star and hears that he is being called. He hopes that the ocean will not make the mournful sound of waves beating against a sand bar when he sets out to sea. Rather, he wishes for a tide that is so full that it cannot contain sound or foam and therefore seems asleep when all that has been carried from the boundless depths of the ocean returns back out to the depths.
The speaker announces the close of the day and the evening bell, which will be followed by darkness. He hopes that no one will cry when he departs, because although he may be carried beyond the limits of time and space as we know them, he retains the hope that he will look upon the face of his “Pilot” when he has crossed the sand bar.
Form
This poem consists of four quatrain stanzas rhyming ABAB. The first and third lines of each stanza are always a couple of beats longer than the second and fourth lines, although the line lengths vary among the stanzas.
Commentary
Tennyson wrote, “Crossing the Bar” in 1889, three years before he died. The poem describes his placid and accepting attitude toward death. Although he followed this work with subsequent poems, he requested that “Crossing the Bar” appear as the final poem in all collections of his work.
Tennyson uses the metaphor of a sand bar to describe the barrier between life and death. A sandbar is a ridge of sand built up by currents along a shore. In order to reach the shore, the waves must crash against the sandbar, creating a sound that Tennyson describes as the “moaning of the bar.” The bar is one of several images of liminality in Tennyson’s poetry: in “Ulysses,” the hero desires “to sail beyond the sunset”; in “Tithonus”, the main character finds himself at the “quiet limit of the world,” and regrets that he has asked to “pass beyond the goal of the ordinance.”
The other important image in the poem is one of “crossing,” suggesting Christian connotations: “crossing” refers both to “crossing over” into the next world and to the act of “crossing” oneself in the classic Catholic gesture of religious faith and devotion. The religious significance of crossing was clearly familiar to Tennyson, for in an earlier poem of his, the knights and lords of Camelot “crossed themselves for fear” when they saw the Lady of Shalott lying dead in her boat. The cross was also where Jesus died; now as Tennyson himself dies, he evokes the image again. So, too, does he hope to complement this metaphorical link with a spiritual one: he hopes that he will “see [his] Pilot face to face.”
Exercise of Crossing the Bar
A. Match the words in column A with their meanings in column B.
a. moaning -complaining
b. boundless - never-ending; infinite
c. twilight - dusk
d. embark - go onboard
e. tho’ - though
f. bourne - a boundary; a limit
B. Fill in the gaps with the words/phrases given below to complete the paraphrase of the poem.
the sandbar, return, the evening bell, floating, the sunset and evening star, on a tide, sad, goodbyes, God
I notice……….. in the sky, and hear a sound calling for me loud and clear. I hope that ……..will not be disturbed when I go out to sea. Instead, I want to be carried out……….. moving so slowly it seems almost asleep, and which is too swollen to make a sound. That's what I want when I…….. home to the depths of the great unknown. Twilight comes with…….., which will be followed by darkness. There don't need to be any ……. when I go. Even though I'll be going far from this time and place,………..on the tide of death, I hope to meet.….., who has been like my pilot in this journey, when I've made it across the bar.
C. Answer the following questions.
a. Where does the speaker have to go crossing the sandbar?
➡ The speaker has to go to another world where the speaker believes that he would have peace and happiness.
or
➡ The speaker has to go to the tide of death/heaven [Students are encouraged to write their own comprehensive answer]
b. Why can’t the tide make a huge sound or create a lather?
➡ Because the speaker wanted to have a peaceful journey so that the tides cant make the huge news.
c. What do the twilight and the evening bell suggest in the poem?
➡ The twilight and the evening suggest that the end of the time /day [The day/time is about to end for the new beginning.
d. Where is the speaker going without accepting sad goodbyes?
➡ The speaker is going to another world [or on a journey: having peace and happiness, heaven] without accepting the sad goodbyes.
e. Who is the only agent that helps the speaker to go far in his journey?
➡ The imaginary pilot of the speaker is the only agent that helps the speaker to go far in his journey.
f. Does the speaker fear death? Why/Why not?
➡ No, The speaker does not fear death as he believes the life after death and has already accepted death as a divine call for him on a beautiful journey.
g. What does the pilot symbolize?
➡ The pilot symbolizes the agent for his journey or the pilot symbolizes the god which the speaker wishes to have with him face to face in his journey.
The speaker tries to convey that finally, good things remain with him before he sets on his ultimate journey to the sea. 'Sea' is taken as something blank, unknown and unpredictable world after death. Do you believe in life after death? Discuss.
Additional Question Answer
Part – 1
Answer: An allegory is a narrative in prose or poetry. It has two levels of meaning: literal and suggestive or symbolic. It means that we can read it as it is, but we can find a deeper meaning in it.
At the literal level, the poet wishes that his journey into the sea should be easy and smooth. For that, he wants that the tide in the sea should be such as to facilitate his voyage. The tide should not be very strong or fierce.
When the ship leaves the harbour and enters the deep sea it has to cross a natural or artificial barrier that separates the harbour from the main sea. This barrier may be in the form of a raised bank of sand. When the tide if high, this barrier remains submerged and then it is easy for a ship to cross it.
The poet wants that at his departure no one should express sorrow or shed tears. He hopes the high tide in the sea will carry him afar, and he will be able to see his pilot face to face after having crossed the bar.
At the symbolic level, the poet uses the journey motif to visualize his journey from this world to the next after his death. The crossing of the bar in the sea is suggestive of the bar that divides this world from the next world where we all go after death. Released from the bondage of flesh and blood, the poet’s soul would journey forth in the vast deep of God’s spirit. Dying is just a stage. After death, one actually returns home from where everyone comes to this world. The Pilot is clearly a metaphor for God. It is God who guides our journey in life and after death. The poet is hopeful to see God face to face when he reaches his real home. The meeting with God keeps him cheerful and hopeful. That is why he wants no sad mournings at his departure.
Thus, ‘Crossing the Bar’ can be an allegory. It has two clear-cut levels of meaning.
What is the mood of the speaker in ‘Crossing the Bar’?
Answer: Most of us are afraid of death. In old age, the approach of death is the most fearful experience. However, the speaker in the poem is not mournful or sad when he knows that he is about to die. He is rather happy, calm and contented in the face of death.
It is also because to him life and death are not two different things. Death is just a stage. Only after death do we embark on a journey to reach our real home from where we come to this world. So the speaker is not afraid of undertaking the final journey which hopefully will enable him to see his Pilot, that is God, face to face. So he forbids everyone to lament over his death. He wishes a peaceful departure from this world:
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark
What he wants is no obstacle in the way of his journey when he starts his voyage.
He wants no ‘sand bar’ to obstruct his ship from going deep. He wants the tide to be such as to facilitate his journey.
Comment on the poet’s faith in God in the last stanza of the poem.
Answer: The last stanza embodies a fundamental Biblical belief in the immortality of the soul and meeting God face to face:
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.
We should remember that Jesus is regarded as the Pilot of the Church and guides the Christian’s life. The image of ‘crossing’ has obvious Christian connotations. Crossing refers to ‘crossing over into the next world. It also refers to the act of “crossing” oneself as a gesture of religious faith and devotion. Thus, the poem built upon the image of ‘crossing’ is essentially a poem of faith.
The poet uses the journey motif to express his belief that there is life beyond death. After the death one goes on the final journey back to his real home (heaven) from where he once came. This idea is typically India. Indian philosophy, top, stresses that death is not the end of life, as many scientists believe. It is our body that dies, our soul is immortal. It is our soul that undertakes a journey to merge into the greater Spirit when our body is no more. This small poem of Tennyson, ‘Crossing the Bar’, embodies this belief of the poet.
Part – 2
How does the poet visualize the scene of his death? Is he afraid of death?
Answer: It is important to keep in mind that Tennyson wrote ‘Crossing the Bar’ in 1889, three years before he died. At that time he was quite old, eighty-one to be precise, and at the same time, he was seriously ill. He must have thought that his end was near. Some biographers of Tennyson have brought out another interesting fact about his writing this poem. Tennyson wrote the poem on the back of an envelope in just twenty minutes – the time that a ferry takes in crossing the sea from Lymington to Yarmouth on the side of Wight.
So in this poem, the poet anticipates his death and gives expression to his thoughts about death and the afterlife. The poet uses the journey motif in the poem, compares his journey motif in the poem, and compares his journey of the soul to the next world to the journey by a ship that has to cross a sand bar-symbolic of the barrier between this world and the next – to enter the main sea to reach its destination. The poet wants that when his journey to the next world starts, there should be no mourners. He wants to leave this world calmly.
So he wishes for a high tide to facilitate the crossing of the bar by his ship (the ship of the soul) . When the bar is submerged the crossing is not difficult. In other words, the poet says that when he will begin his journey to another world, he will be calm and poised. He will have no cares and anxieties. He hopes that he will enter the new life after death calmly. He does not want any sad farewells. When the darkness of death would descend on him he would he happy and would not like others to be unhappy. When the poet’s ship of life has crossed the bar, that is, the boundary between life and death, he hopes to see God face to face. God is his pilot as he has been guiding him in life and he is to guide him through death as well.
Thus, the poem reveals the poet’s faith in religion, God and life beyond death. It underlines the fact that death is not the end of life as the human soul is immortal. It also tells us the best way to face death. As death only helps us enter the next life, it should be accepted calmly and cheerfully.
Comment on the nautical references in the poem.
Answer: ‘Crossing the Bar’ shows Tennyson’s knowledge about ships and sailing. The fast nautical reference is to the way the ship leaves the harbour. When the ship comes out of the harbour, it has to cross a natural or artificial barrier that separates the harbour from the main sea. When the tide in the sea is high, this barrier or bar is submerged. At that time it is easy for a ship or boat to cross the bar easily. That is why the poet wishes high tide in the sea in the poem. He wants smooth sailing to the other world, his real home.
The other nautical references occur in the last stanza. The course of a ship into the unknown sea cannot be predicted. This is also true of man’s journey after death. It is not known to him where he will reach, and how. Another reference is to the meeting of the Pilot when the time of embarkment comes. The reference is to the practice of the Pilot of a harbour to go and guide every incoming ship into the harbour by himself. The poet equates the Pilot of the harbour to God. After death, the soul of the dead meets God who then takes charge of it.
Tennyson is concerned with the importance of faith in God in the poem. Discuss.
Answer: It is important for us to have faith in God. When we lose this faith we are lost. Faith in God is imperative for leading a happy, contented life. It is equally important to ward off fears about death when it stares us in the face.
In Tennyson’s time, people were facing a crisis of faith in the wake of Darwin’s theory of evolution and many other scientific discoveries. Tennyson has himself been troubled by the conflict between religion and science. Here in this poem, he seems to have overpowered all doubts in his mind. That is why, he feels that after death he is sure to see his Pilot (God) face to face:
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.
Death will enable him to meet God whom he rightly calls his Pilot . God has been guiding him through all ups and downs in life. No one else is his better guide than God in life. It is again God who will help him through death.
Long Questions
To what purpose does Tennyson use the journey motif in his poem ‘Crossing the Bar’? Discuss with close reference to the text.
Answer: In ‘Crossing the Bar’ Tennyson anticipates his own death and gives vent to his feelings in metaphorical language. The journey motif comes in handy to him to visualize his final journey in life. So he compares the passage from this world to the next as a voyage in a ship.
In the very opening of the poem the poet wishes that his voyage to the unknown world should be easy and smooth. For that, he wants that the tide should be such as to facilitate his voyage. The tide should not be too violent:
……such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam
When the ship leaves the harbour and enters the deep sea it has to cross a natural or artificial barrier that separates the harbour from the main sea. This barrier or ‘bar’ may be in the form of a raised bank of sand. When the tide is high then this barrier is submerged and then it becomes easy for a boat or ship to cross the barrier. A stormy or rough sea makes this crossing difficult. So the poet desires that when he puts out to sea everything should be calm and peaceful.
The crossing of this bar is a metaphor for the bar that divides this world from the next world where we all go after death. Released from the bondage of flesh and blood, his soul would journey forth in the vast deep of God’s spirit. In the concluding lines, the poet hopes that at the end of his voyage he is sure the comes face to face with the Pilot of his life, that is, God:
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.
Thus, the poet uses the journey motif to express his belief that there is life beyond death. After death one goes on the final journey back to his real home (heaven) from where he once came. This idea is typically Indian. Indian philosophy, too, stresses that death is not the end of life, as many scientists believe. It is our body that dies, our soul is immortal. It is our soul that undertakes a journey to merge into the greater Spirit when our body is no more. This small poem of Tennyson, ‘Crossing the Bar’, embodies this belief of the poet.
Give a critical appreciation of the poem ‘Crossing the Bar’ by Tennyson.
Answer: ‘Crossing the Bar’ by Tennyson is a poem of hope and faith, even though it deals with the mournful thoughts of death. The poet speaks of his own approaching death, but he has no grief in his mind. There is no bitterness or sorrow in his mind. He is ready for the momentous moment calmly and boldly. That is why he does not want any mourning over his death. He wants a calm and peaceful entry into the next world after his death.
In order to make his meaning clear, he uses the traditional image and symbol of the journey of the soul. The Journey motif is, thus, the central metaphor in this poem. He hopes that everything will be smooth. The ship of his departing soul will easily cross the barrier that divides this world from the next.
The soul’s journey to heaven after death is a common religious metaphor. Tennyson is not very original in using it. However, the reference to the barrier or bar which the ship has the cross to enter the main sea is something novel. It makes the image of the soul’s journey in a sort of ship or boat quite realistic. That is why the poet wishes for a high tide:
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam
Tennyson’s effective use of other metaphors makes the poem quite attractive. The approach of death is compared to twilight, followed by darkness which stands for death itself. The poet wants calm and peace when he departs from this world. So he wants no mournings:
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea.
Here the ‘moaning of the bar’ is a metaphor for the mourning by relatives and friends. When the ship crosses the bar, when the bar is not submerged, it creates some jarring sounds. The mournings by relatives and friends are nothing but jarring, disturbing sounds which are not desirable when one is going to meet one’s Creator. In another metaphor, Tennyson calls God his ‘Pilot’, which is quite appropriate. It is God who pilots our boat of life, and it is He who guides our last journey to heaven.
‘Crossing the Bar’ is also remarkable for its use of rhyme and rhythm. The intricate line length gives the impression of a series of waves that rise and finally fall towards the end, that is the shore.
In short, ‘Crossing the Bar’ by Tennyson is a poem of hope and faith. It is brilliant in the use of metaphorical language and rhythmic patterns.
In what sense ‘Crossing the Bar’ is the poet’s testament and epitaph? Can it be called a poem of faith? Discuss.
Answer: In the Victorian Age, new scientific discoveries had shattered people’s faith in religion and God. Many people lost faith in life beyond death. They began to agree with those who believed that death is the end of life. Such thoughts were highly upsetting to men of faith like Tennyson. For some time Tennyson remained wavering. His faith was rudely shaken, but then he was finally able to overcome all his doubts. He was able to regain his faith in the immortality of the human soul and the existence of God.
‘Crossing the Bar’ is one of Tennyson’s prominent poems. It was written when the poet was eighty-one years old after his serious illness. It may be considered his testament as well as his epitaph.
‘Crossing the Bar’ imbibes his faith in life beyond death. He takes the traditional, religious image and symbol of the journey of the soul from, and to, its real home, that is, heaven, and makes it the central metaphor in this poem. He anticipates his death and believes that his passage from this life to the next will be smooth, like a ship that easily clears the sandbar and comes into the open sea. He wants to be calm and quiet at the time of death, free from all cares and anxieties. This is what all religions teach. Death is inevitable and inescapable. It should be accepted in a calm and cheerful mood. We should not conceive it as something bad and cruel.
The second stanza of the poem clearly visualizes the journey of the soul. It will be easy and smooth if the mind is at peace. The poet is ready for death. He wants to see no sad scenes of parting:
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark.
The last stanza embodies a fundamental Biblical belief in the immortality of the soul and meeting God face to face:
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.
We should remember that Jesus is regarded as the Pilot of the Church and guides the Christian’s life. The image of ‘crossing’ has obvious Christian connotations. Crossing refers to ‘crossing over into the next world. It also refers to the act of ‘crossing’ oneself as a gesture of religious faith and devotion. Thus, the poem built upon the image of ‘crossing’ is essentially a poem of faith.
Though the philosophical or ethical ideas of the poem are edifying, what appeals to us about the poem is its metaphorical structure. The central metaphor is worked out quite effectively. The images are both relevant and effective. The images of the sunset, the evening star, the twilight, the evening bell are highly suggestive. They convey the idea of old age and the end of life effectively and help build the atmosphere and the mood in a proper way. The idea of God as Pilot is quite striking. The faithful among us accept it readily.