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 though 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 crossed the bar.

["Crossing the Bar" was initially published in Demeter and Other Poems. By Alfred, Lord Tennyson.London & New York: Macmillan & Co.,. 13 December 1889. pp. vi, 175.] >The text of the poem has been checked against that in Poetry of the Victorian Period, ed. Jerome H. Buckley and George B. Woods (Boston: Riverside, 1965) 176.

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Last updated 28 January 2010