Crossing the Bar

Crossing the Bar  (1889)  by Alfred Tennyson

Tennyson regarded this as a summation of his poetical works, and requested that it should always be placed at the end of any collection of his poems. The following is as rendered in Demeter and other poems (1889).

CROSSING THE BAR.

Sunset and evening star,  And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar,  When I put out to sea, But such a tide as moving seems asleep,  Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep  Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell,  And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell,  When I embark; For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place  The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face  When I have crost the bar.

THE END

This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.