What is the message of Crossing the Bar by Alfred Lord Tennyson?

Tennyson’s works were melancholic and reflected the moral and intellectual values of his time. The poem itself is a metaphor for death. ‘Crossing the Bar’ could be interpreted to mean “crossing the sandbar” out into sea, transitioning from life into death. The Pilot is a symbol for God.

How is God referred to in the poem Crossing the Bar?

“Pilot” here refers to God as He is the one who guides the destiny of human beings through every thick and thin. The Pilot, in the poet’s own words refers to “the Divine Presence” – God, a great power that controls and guides human life.

What does Crossing the Bar symbolize?

The extended metaphor of “crossing the bar” represents travelling serenely and securely from life through death. The Pilot is a metaphor for God, whom the speaker hopes to meet face to face.

What does the sea symbolize in Crossing the Bar?

The poet has used the metaphor of a ship sailing into the sea to represent the journey of life and a sand bar – which is a ridge between the harbour and the open ocean as the barrier between life and death.

What is the meaning of Crossing the Bar?

What is significance of the title Crossing the Bar?

The poet calmly accepts death as a natural process and hope to meet his creator, face to face, after his death. In order to transition from life to death, crossing the bar is necessary for him and hence the title of the poem is written as “Crossing the Bar.” Read summary of Crossing the Bar. 3.

What are the metaphors used in the 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 belief does the last stanza of Crossing the Bar convey?

The last stanza embodies a fundamental Biblical belief in the immortality of the soul and meeting God face to face: I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crost the bar.

Is crossing the bar an elegy or allegory?

elegy
Lord Tennyson’s favourite poem, Crossing the Bar is a perfect elegy, possessing all the essential elements to qualify as one. Secondly, the emotions portrayed in the poem are deep and multi-layered, which is a good reason why it continues to be a subject of study even after 120 years since it was written.

What metaphor does Crossing the Bar represent?