Crossing The Bar By Alfred Lord Tennyson Analysis ISC Class 11, 12 English
In this, you are going to go through Crossing The Bar By Alfred Lord Tennyson Analysis ISC Class 11, 12 English. Understanding a text meticulously in its totality is very important for a learner for scoring better in the ISC exam. Experts made ample to ensure a thorough critical analysis of Crossing The Bar. Let us find Crossing The Bar By Alfred Lord Tennyson Analysis ISC Class 11, 12 English.
About The Poet
Alfred, Lord Tennyson is the most distinguished poet of the Victorian era. He has seemed the embodiment of his genre, both to his contemporaries and to the modern readers. Born at Somerset Rectory in Lincolnshire, England on the 6th of August, 1809, the son of the Reverend George Clayton Tennyson. Tennyson portrayed his literary skills quite early, and by the subtle age of fourteen had authored a drama in blank verse and 6000 lines epic poem.
In 1828, Tennyson got enrolled at the Trinity College, Cambridge. At the same year, he won the Chancellor’ Gold Medal for his poem Timbuctoo. In 1830, he released his first solo collection: Poems, Chiefly Lyrical. His poetry deals with various facets and expresses the spiritual unrest of his date.
Among his best-known poems are The Lady of Shallot, Lockley Hall, Morte d’Athur, and Ulysses. His career hit a high note with In Memoriam.
His voluminous works are known for his experiment with meters was selected to succeed William Wordsworth as England’s new Poet Laureate in 1880. Wordsworth penned him as “ the greatest of our living poets”.
He breathed last at Aldworth House, his home in Surrey, on 6th of October 1892, at the age of 83. He was consigned to the grave in the Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey, and the copy of Shakespeare’s play Cymbeline was placed along.
About The Poem
Tennyson is surmised to have written the poem while on a voyage, crossing the Solent from Aldworth to visit the Aisle of Wright. Its vivid imagery and Romanization of death resemble Romantic-era literature. The poem was written three years before his demise. “ The words,” he said, “ came in a moment”. The poem has been very important for him as he had instructed that all of his poetry collections should end with “ Crossing the Bar”. Moreover, he had asked his son Hallam to recite this poem in his deathbed.
The poem focusses on the impermanency of life and the finality of death. The poem was published in the volume “Demeter and Other Poems” ( 1889). The poet uses the journey motif to express his views about his journey from life to death and beyond. The sixteen lines extended metaphor of Crossing the Bar embodies travelling placidly and securely from life to death.
The poem was published in the backdrop of the conflict between science and faith. Darwin’s theory of evolution and many other scientific discoveries shook the people’s faith in the scriptures and God himself. Tennyson strongly portrayed the cycle of rebirth and at last coming face to face with the Pilot in the day of judgement.
Structure Of The Poem
Sunset and evening
star, A
And
one clear call for me!B
And may there be no
moaning of the bar, A
When
I put out to sea, B
But
such a tide as moving seems asleep, C
Too
full for sound and foam, D
When that which drew
from out the boundless deep C
Turns
again home.D
Twilight
and evening bell, E
And
after that the dark!F
And may there be no
sadness of farewell, E
When
I embark; F
For
tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place G
The
flood may bear me far, A
I hope to see my Pilot
face to face G
When
I have crost the bar. A
‘ Crossing the Bar’ is an elegy of four lines and each of them is quatrains. It is narrated in the first persona. It is concerned with the notion of death, though its mood is far from sad or
sorrowful. He has used the classical rhyme scheme of abab. The structure is akin to that of a ballad form. The length of the lines varies according to the intended movement. The poem is interlinked with theme and conceit. It has a rhyme scheme as ABAB CDCD EFEF GAGA. There is a consistency about the third line of the poem that in all the four stanzas they have ten syllables. For example, And/ may/ there/ be/ no/ moa/ ning/ of/ the/bar .
Tennyson has extended one line in each of the first three stanzas into a single iambic pentameter line. The repeated usage of the word “ bar” is substantial as it is the divide between life and the afterlife. The pace slows down in the last line ‘ When I have crost the bar’ and sums up forcefully in an optimistic note ‘ to see” the awaited “ Pilot”.
Literary Devices In The Poem
The poem “ Crossing the Bar” has the following poetic devices:-
1. Metaphor
The poem has used several metaphors to convey the meaning. A metaphor is a direct comparison between two things but a not explicitly cited. Examples of metaphors in the poem are:
· Sunset and evening star, a
metaphor the end of life.
· Pilot,
a metaphorical reference to God.
· Bar,
I.e sandbar, a strong raised area between the harbour and the sea is a metaphor
for boundary between life and death.
2. Imagery
A reference to the various senses of the human
body. There are several imageries in the poem like
Sunset, the evening star and twilight ( visual imagery).
Moaning of the bar( auditory imagery).
3. Alliteration
Examples of alliteration are:
· Sunset and the evening star.
· And one clear call for me!
· When that which drew
· For tho’ from out our bourne
4. Personification
The figure of speech in which an inanimate object or animal is given human-like qualities.
“ And may there be no moaning of the bar”
“ But such a tide as moving seems asleep”.
5. Enjambment
“ I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.”
Theme Of The Poem
Death and Acceptance
The theme of death and acceptance is the predominant theme of the poem “ Crossing the Bar”. It focuses on the necessity of life to accept the ups and downs of life with stoicism and honour.
The speaker correlates this the crossing of the bar which divides the element of life and death. The poem is a clear argument toward the acceptance of death and the assurance of God’s solace in eternity.
The poem begins with” one clear call” for the poet to which he resonates. He wants that there should be no moaning after his departure. The “ sunset and evening star” are symbolic of getting old and the “ call” refers to signal for impending cessation. This establishes the idea that God is behind the process of life and death. Approaching death is one of God’s
plan.
There is a certain sense of hope as the speaker wants no mournful departure. That is probably because he doesn’t see death as a true end. Also, when the tides classes at the shore they make a moaning sound. Here, the endorsement of imminent death calmly, without fear is implied. He hopes that when one disentangles oneself from the knot of life, he
may be set to a new destination without much sound. The going out to return to the “ boundless deep” from which all mortals come. He considers death as a trail through ups and downs from this finite world to a world of the afterlife. Where there will be no boundaries like the “ bar” between life and death and no restrictions of “ Time and Place”. The reason for death is not merely the end but a new beginning.
Questions And Answers
What is the message of the poem Crossing the Bar?
“Crossing the Bar” is a poem in which a speaker confronts the reality of imminent death and finds a kind of peace in the thought of dying. Rather than being scared by death, the speaker presents it as a mere transition into another kind of life (specifically, the Christian afterlife)
Is Crossing the Bar a metaphysical poem?
Lord Alfred Tennyson’s Crossing the Bar is a highly charged spiritual discourse on the aftermath of life. It is a philosophic discourse on the subject of death. … The entire poem is deeply suggestive lesson of final journey of life towards death set forth in the metaphoric language of sea voyage.
What is the bar that the poet wants to cross?
The poet wishes to cross the sandbar, the only obstacle before he can set sail into the sea. Beyond him lies a vast sea with an unknown journey but known destination.
What do sunset evening stars mean?
The “sunset and evening star” are symbolic of getting old. As the evening star appears in the sky at the time of sunset when the day ends metaphorically it refers the end of the life of the speaker.
What metaphorical meaning has the moaning of the bar?
In this poem, Tennyson is using a sandbar as a metaphor to represent the line between life and death. Waves must crash against a sandbar in order to reach the shore, which makes a sound that Tennyson calls “the moaning of the bar.”
What does too full for sound and foam mean?
Through the poem, the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson compares his impending death to crossing a bar. Like a calm sea wave, which is ‘too full for sound and foam’ the speaker hopes that his death will be silent, smooth and quick, making no fuss. When that which drew from out the boundless deep.
What do you mean by crossing the bar has the poet used the journey motif in crossing the bar and to what purpose?
In ‘Crossing the Bar’ Tennyson anticipates his own death and gives vent to his feelings in metaphorical language. Thus, the poet uses the journey motif to express his belief that there is life beyond death. After death one goes on the final journey back to his real home (heaven) from where he once came.
How does Lord Tennyson see death as a homecoming in the poem Crossing the Bar?
The poet sees death as a homecoming, an event as natural, sure, and peaceful as the flowing of a river into the ocean that is its home. On its way to the ocean, a river takes with it the sediment that creates a sandbar (also called a bar).