Literature/Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Crossing the Bar
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1889
Tennyson's short poem comparing death to a ship putting out to sea across the sandbar at a harbour mouth.
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 deepTurns 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 PlaceThe flood may bear me far,I hope to see my Pilot face to faceWhen I have crost the bar.