What message does Tennyson convey in his poem Crossing the Bar?

A LitCharts expert can help. “Crossing the Bar” is a poem by the British Victorian poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The poem, written in 1889, is a metaphorical meditation on death, which sees the speaker comparing dying—or a certain way of dying—to gently crossing the sandbar between a coastal area and the wider sea/ocean.

What does the bar symbolize in Crossing the Bar?

Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar” begins at “Sunset,” which is a time of day often used in poetry to symbolize dying or death. The “bar” mentioned in the poem’s title and in the third line of the first stanza refers to a sandbar, and it symbolizes the transition between life and death.

How does Crossing the Bar convey the philosophy of Tennyson?

Alfred Lord Tennyson’s beautiful poem “Crossing the Bar” relates death to a sea voyage. The poem is written in four quatrains with the rhyme scheme of ABAB. The point of view of the poem is first person with the poet as the speaker, which is how the poet conveys his own thoughts on life and death.

How does Tennyson use the metaphor of the voyage in his poem Crossing the Bar?

In ‘Crossing the Bar’, Tennyson is speaking about his own impending death. Within the poem, the image of the sea is used to represent the ‘barrier’ between life and death. The construction of this metaphor centres on the image of ‘crossing the bar’; a ‘bar’ is physically a bar of sand in shallow water.

What is the meaning of the poem Crossing the bar?

The poem describes his placid and accepting attitude toward death. Although he followed this work with subsequent poems, he requested that “Crossing the Bar” appear as the final poem in all collections of his work. Tennyson uses the metaphor of a sand bar to describe the barrier between life and death.

Who is the author of crossing the bar?

“Crossing the Bar” is a poem by the British Victorian poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The poem, written in 1889, is a metaphorical meditation on death, which sees the speaker comparing dying—or a certain way of dying—to gently crossing the sandbar between a coastal area and the wider sea/ocean.

What was the moaning of the bar in crossing the bar?

In order to reach the shore, the waves must crash against the sandbar, creating a sound that Tennyson describes as the “moaning of the bar.”

Which is the only way to cross the bar in crossing the bar?

The ‘bar’ which Tennyson must cross, however, can only be crossed in one direction. This is made explicit in a couple of ways by the poet. Firstly, we should consider the wider imagery of the poem. The poem opens with the phrase ‘Sunset and evening star’, immediately placing the reader in a setting at the end of the day.