A Peaceful Voyage

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 crossed the bar. 

-Alfred, Lord Tennyson

        Alfred, Lord Tennyson constructs a very comforting image of death in his poem, "Crossing the Bar". His approach to death does not assume it is an ending, but rather a transition. Tennyson wishes for a peaceful death, he desires to ease into it as a boat eases out to sea. Through using both natural and religious imagery, Tennyson conveys his acceptance of his imminent death as well as the style in which he would like to pass.

        The poem begins with an image of a sunset, a classic image used to convey death. Tennyson makes it known immediately that it is his death, as he hears a "clear call" for him as the sun sets. He then asks that there be "no moaning of the bar" when he puts "out to sea." When he refers to sound of moaning, literally, it is to the sound that waves make as they crash against a sandbar before reaching the shore. The deeper meaning however, is that he wishes there to be no remorse or sadness as he leaves his life.

       Instead of grief, Tennyson wishes for a tide that "seems asleep," a peaceful sea. Here he uses sleeping, another common metaphor for peace after death. This tide would be "too full for sound and foam," implying that there would be no sandbar for any moaning to take place. Because the sea is too full for sound, his death would be quiet and serene. Next is my favorite part of the poem. His image of death consists of something that has drawn out from some unknowable, "boundless deep" returns to where it came from. In this context, it reminds one of a vast and deep ocean. The religious significance has to do with the soul or essence of man, which has risen from some unknowable place to live, and will return to that place after death, according to Tennyson.

       The next stanza starts with twilight, a progression from sunset. Next will come the dark, or what waits after death. He then pleads again, more explicitly this time, that there "be no sadness of farewell" when he dies. He justifies this desire of his by explaining that though the circumstances are unknown and somewhat frightening, he has hope that he will meet his God wherever he end up next. "Time and Place" are two defining factors of life: we exist somewhere and at some time. Tennyson explains that though these two essential aspects of life may forsake him after death, he still has hope that he will meet God "face to face" after leaving the Earth. 

       By ending the poem with an explanation as to his desires, he adds another level of reassurance to the poem. As it is often difficult to stay calm and logical in moments of anxiety, his use of reason while facing death shows a certain acceptance and composure at the end. The innately human emotion of hope in the last stanza grounds the poem in the human experience, and makes death feel like a voyage instead of a shipwreck.