"Crossing the Bar"

"Crossing the Bar"
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

This poem is an allegory in which the imagery of the sea serves as a way for the author to describe death and the journey to it.  Going out to sea stands for the beginning of the journey towards death.  The speaker knows and expects death, and does not desire grief over his death.  "And may there be no sadness of farewell when I embark" (Tennyson, 886).  The speaker mention "moaning of the bar" and how he doesn't want it when he goes out to sea.  This can be interpreted as the speaker asking for a calm and painless death.  He wants the tide to be smooth, comparable to dying in his sleep.  Though I was confused on the meaning of the boundless deep, I know that it has a negative connotation.  Lastly, when the speaker says that he hopes "to see my Pilot face to face" (Tennyson, 886), it implies that the speaker wishes to meet his maker, the Creator.  Pilot is capitalized because it refers to a higher being, the one who watches over us all.