Crossing The Bar

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CROSSING THE BAR In the poem 'Crossing the Bar', Tennyson is speaking about his own impending death. Within the poem symbolism and imagery are used as well as metaphors. 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. The 'bar' which Tennyson must cross, however, can only be crossed in one direction. This is made explicit in a couple of ways by the poet. Firstly, we should consider the wider imagery of the poem. The poem opens with the phrase 'Sunset and evening star', immediately placing the reader in a setting at the end of the day. The metaphor can be extended to represent a late stage in the poet's life. This reading is supported by the opening of the third stanza: 'Twilight and evening bell, / And after that the dark!' Time is progressing as the poem develops, and after each reference to physical time Tennyson makes a personal reference to his future. Tennyson's words 'moving on' enables us to interpret the image of evening as representing old age. The notion of passing time, evident in the physical darkening of the sky from 'sunset' to 'twilight' to 'dark' is echoed in the rhythm of the poem. Clearly, the poem speaks about the sea, about a tide which 'turns again home'. The tide, we are reminded, has done this before; its rhythm will not be interrupted by the death of the poet. The lengths of the lines alternate between 10, six and four syllables with no fixed rotation: The differing lengths of lines evoke the movement of a tide washing upon a beach, something which we all recognise to be cyclical. In considering how the poet has constructed the 'bar' between life and death, we must look at the specifics of his
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