Crossing the bar
Alfred Tennyson’s poem “Crossing the Bar” was published in his 1889 collection “Demeter and Other Poems”. It appears to have been written after he suffered a serious illness while at sea, crossing the Solent strait to the Isle of Wight. Shortly before he died, Tennyson instructed his son to put the poem at the end of all editions of his poems.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson was born on 6 August 1809 in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England, and he died on 6 October 1892 in Lurgashall, Sussex, England, at the age of 83.Tennyson was Britain’s Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria’s reign. Although his early poetry was described by some critics as overly sentimental, it soon proved popular. With its medievalism and powerful visual imagery, his verse was a major influence on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
External links:
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.