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Crossing the Bar by Alfred Tennyson

Analysis

In this poem, the bar is a sandpit along the shore where tides have deposited sand. To hear the moaning of the waves and wind means there isn't enough water to sail over the bar without grounding the ship.

The poem is a metaphor for him being placid and accepting towards his coming death. The bar represents the barrier between life and death.

This poem is written in the rhyming pattern of ABAB. The first and third lines always have a few extra feet than the others.

Poem

Crossing the Bar
By 

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.

Written .

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Nationality
English

Literary Movement
Victorian, 19th Century

Subjects
Nature, Boat, Life, Sea, Death