Crossing the Bar

Graham Donald reads “Crossing the Bar” by Lord Tennyson

The ‘bar’ is a barrier at the entrance to a harbour – so to ‘cross the bar’ means to go out into the wide ocean – a metaphor for death. The ‘Pilot” is God

Hear the poem here

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 deep

      Turns 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 Place

      The flood may bear me far,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face

      When I have crossed the bar.