Crossing at the Bar Meaning Free Essay Example

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Tennyson mentions in the first stanza that he is waiting for his death to be called (“and one clear call for me”) in the first and second stanza he also mentions a tidal wave to return him home. When Tennyson mentions ‘home’ he is referring to heaven. And describes in the third stanza of his twilight while trying to give the impression that he is waiting for the journey of the afterlife, but expects there to be no sadness when he dies, and wishes to confront his death with bravery.

Lord Tennyson’s poem is a religious and clean death, no wildness or crazy ways he simply wants a peaceful death.

And only wants to die seeing his lord face to face. ANALYSIS This poem describes the attitude of acceptance of the speaker towards death. Now, we will analyze this poem; in the first stanza the author hears that he is being called, it seems a call from death (line 2) “and one clear call for me”, also he is expecting a rising tide that he goes home again.

In the third stanza, the author describes his twilight while he is waiting for his death and he hopes no sadness when he dies.

In the last stanza, the speaker trusts in confronting the death with bravery, and also he emphasizes this giving a feeling of excitement and curiosity for that which is coming (line 15 & 16) “ I hope to see my Pilot face to face when I have crossed the bar”.

This poem is an allegory of the road towards death, the sand bar is described as a barrier between life and death; the sea is shown as a destination, and it manages to create a very peaceful feeling, the twilight is seen as a decline in a human life, and the dark as death.

This metaphorical poem is much more spiritual, because it has a great religious sense, we can see it in this sentence (line 15 & 16) “I hope to see my Pilot face to face when I have crossed the bar”; the Pilot can be his guide towards death, an angel or God. In respect to the structure, the poem is divided in four stanzas which have resemblances, for example: the first stanza begins with: “sunset and evening star” and the third “twilight and evening bell” and both have one line with exclamations (line2) “and one clear call for me! and (line 10) “and after that the dark” Referring to the rhyme scheme it consists in four quatrain stanzas rhyming ABAB, and the pair lines are shorter than the other ones, and the first and the third stanzas are united to one another as are the second and fourth stanzas. The first and the third stanzas begin with symbols of light “sunset and evening star” and “twilight and evening bell”, then , the second line of those stanzas begins with “and”; the third and the fourth stanzas conclude with a wish: (lines3 & 4) and (lines 11 & 12).

In respect to the vocabulary, we will say, that it is very accessible even having lots of metaphors. It is very clear in understanding. 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 he 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 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. The ABAB rhyme scheme of the poem echoes the stanzas’ thematic patterning: the first and third stanzas are linked to one another as are the second and fourth. Both the first and third stanzas begin with two symbols of the onset of night: “sunset and evening star” and “twilight and evening bell. ” The second line of each of these stanzas begins with “and,” conjoining another item that does not fit together as straightforwardly as the first two: “one clear call for me” and “after that the dark! Each of these lines is followed by an exclamation point, as the poet expresses alarm at realizing what death will entail. These stanzas then conclude with a wish that is stated metaphorically in the first stanza: “may there be no moaning of the bar / When I put out to sea”; and more literally in the third stanza: “And may there be no sadness of farewell / When I embark. ” Yet the wish is the same in both stanzas: the poet does not want his relatives and friends to cry for him after he dies.

Neither of these stanzas concludes with a period, suggesting that each is intimately linked to the one that follows. The second and fourth stanzas are linked because they both begin with a qualifier: “but” in the second stanza, and “for though” in the fourth. In addition, the second lines of both stanzas connote excess, whether it be a tide “too full for sound and foam” or the “far” distance that the poet will be transported in death. Poems1889Sunset 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 crust the bar. 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 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. ” : A Short Analysis :.

Tennyson is expressing his thoughts as he approaches death, which is what will happen when he “crosses the bar. ” He is wishing for a painless death for himself, as well as a death that will not bring great sadness to the ones that he has loved and that have loved him. The last stanza shows his uncertainty about what is to come yet he wishes to meet his maker, the driver of his ship, the Pilot, God. The overall tone of this poem is relatively jovial and excited, which is ironic since the poem is about death. This paradox shows Tennyson’s acceptance of death.