RPO -- Alfred Lord Tennyson : Crossing the Bar

Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

Crossing the Bar

1 Sunset and evening star,

2 And one clear call for me!

3And may there be no moaning of the bar,

4 When I put out to sea,

5 But such a tide as moving seems asleep,

6 Too full for sound and foam,

7When that which drew from out the boundless deep

8 Turns again home.

9 Twilight and evening bell,

10 And after that the dark!

11And may there be no sadness of farewell,

12 When I embark;

13 For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place

14 The flood may bear me far,

15I hope to see my Pilot face to face

16 When I have crost the bar.

Notes

1] Hallam Tennyson writes (Memoir, II, 367) that not long before his death, Tennyson asked that this lyric be placed at the end of all editions of his poems.

Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.

Original text: Alfred Lord Tennyson, Demeter and other poems (London: Macmillan, 1889). tenn/T366/D363/1889 Fisher Rare Book Library (Toronto). Alfred lord Tennyson, Works (London: Macmillan, 1891). tenn T366 A1 1891a Fisher Rare Book Library (Toronto).
First publication date: 1889
RPO poem editor: J. D. Robins
RP edition: 2RP 2.414.
Recent editing: 2:2002/1/10

Rhyme: abab

Other poems by Alfred Lord Tennyson