Crossing the Bar

"Crossing the Bar" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

"I hope to see my Pilot face to face when I have crossed the bar" (Tennyson, page 886).

The entirety of the poem acts as a comparison to someone passing from life to death. The bar seems to be the transition from life to death. The passing is described to be like sleep that when pulled out of the "boundless deep" (Tennyson, page 886). Being pulled out of the sleep would lead home to the afterlife. The Pilot mentioned at the end of the poem is seemingly God as it is capitalized and goes along with the comparison to the afterlife. Also, the author hopes for no sadness in leaving earth for the afterlife. Furthermore, the author describes moving into afterlife as embarking from life on earth. This poem seems to find joy and content with dying and moving into the after life. Embarking leads to an understanding of leaving for a journey and not going somewhere negative. Lastly, the embarking for the journey is backed up by the mention of going home from earth meaning the place after death is seen as a good place to be going and not a dread of leaving earth.