Crossing the Bar

Crossing the Bar by Alfred Lord Tennyson was extremely symbolic. He focuses the story primarily on the image of the sea. "When I put out to sea," (Tennyson, 886) represents the narrator starting out his life and his eventual crossing over into a new life. The tides and waves in this poem represent the events and obstacles in his life. The open sea was his life full of opportunities. "And may there be no sadness of farewell," (Tennyson, 886), to me, says that the narrator did not want people to grieve over his death. Maybe this man lived a good and fulfilling life; he had nothing to be sorry about. Then, the most symbolic line of the poem shows up in the second to last line. "I hope to see my Pilot face to face," (Tennyson, 886). The Pilot represents God. God was the one who flew the narrator through life. He brought the narrator to his final destination. Only He can accept the narrator when he "crosses the bar" into Heaven. The narrator views death as a new beginning. One can meet the all-knowing being who guided him throughout life's battles.