There is a hope after all: Tennyson’s Ruminations
about Life after Death in Crossing the Bar
By: Gabrielle Yvonne Amper
Death is probably one of the most dreaded
events in the person’s life. Its inevitability and Crossing the Bar
unpredictability make us cringe, for we will never By Alfred Lord Tennyson
know for sure what awaits us at the moment of dying
Sunset and evening star,
or even how it feels to undergo such process. What And one clear call for me!
makes this even more tragic is the idea that once our And may there be no moaning of the bar,
final bell tolls, so to speak, we will leave behind all When I put out to sea,
that we have cherished and toiled for in just a single
second. It is very difficult indeed to accept the reality But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
that death ends all. Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Or does it? In his poem Crossing the Bar,
Alfred Lord Tennyson on of Great Britain’s poet Twilight and evening bell,
laureate, encourages us to look at death on a positive And after that the dark!
note. And may there be no sadness of farewell,
This piece tells about the poet’s joyful and When I embark;
positive acceptance of his upcoming death and death
For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
itself through the use of metaphors about crossing to The flood may bear me far,
the afterlife. As far as Tennyson is concerned, death I hope to see my Pilot face to face
should not be seen as dead end but rather as a portal When I have crost the bar
that will bring us not only to an ethereal world but to
the loving arms of our Creator.
At the time of the writing of the poem, the lines 8-9). Instead, he described death as something
poet has perhaps already heard death’s imminent call he looks forward to experiencing for it is through this
(“and one clear call for me,” line 2) event that he finally gets to meet his “Pilot” “face to
face” (Line 11). The term Pilot may have been used
Such an idea is further amplified with the to refer to the Judeo-Christian God. Being born
use of the phrases “Sunset and evening star” (line 1) Christian family, it is very much plausible that years
and “Twilight and evening bell” (line 9), which both of religious instruction have fortified Tennyson’s
suggest the end of the day and the coming of the belief that after he experiences death, he will finally
night. These are commonly used to pertain to the end meet his Creator, in whom he can find the fullness of
of one’s life. The bar that Tennyson refers to in the life. His reference to God Himself who steers the
poem also lends support for such reading. A “bar” or course of his life until eventually, he gets reunited
a “sand bar” literally means the ridges created by the with Him.
waves on the sand of the beach. The poet used the
metaphor (bar) to represent the barrier between life This poem about crossing from life to death
and death. In order for the waves to reach the shore, bears a religious significance. The word “crossing”
they must crash against the sand bar, which creates a refers to crossing over from life to death to see the
sound that Tennyson refers to as the “moaning of the “pilot” of his life face to face. It shows the belief of
bar” in the first stanza. Tennyson in afterlife and God and his positive
attitude towards death and dying. Through this short
Unlike most of us, however, his impending poem, he remind us that death will not stop us from
passing did not cast a shadow of gloom upon him. He achieving the fullness we have all been longing for,
does not even want others to mourn his parting (“And and that there are still several things to look forward
may there be no sadness of farewell when I embark,” to after our earthly lives are over.
