Crossing the Bar by Lord Tennyson

Thesis: In Crossing the Bar by Lord Tennyson, the speaker metaphorically compares pulling out of a harbor which displays the speaker’s tone of acceptance towards death.

            The speaker displays a tone of acceptance towards his inevitable death within the poem Crossing the Bar. The speaker explains the he wishes “there be no sadness of farewell / When I embark” (11-12). Although there will most likely be sadness from others once the speaker passes on, the speaker wishes his death to be as emotionally painless as possible. Since the speaker already knows that his time is up, the speaker must prepare others for the death he has already accepted. The speaker does not show any remorse for the life he has lived. Rather, the speaker appears to be content and ready to move on towards death. There is no uncertainty in the speaker’s tone, for the speaker uses the word ‘when’ instead of ‘if’ to solidify the fact that his death is near. All in all, the speaker knows that he will die in the near future, so the speaker decides to accept his death and prepare those around him.