Crossing_the_Bar_Critisism

After reading this poem, it is clear that this may be a prayer to God. The main theme of this poem is Death. Throughout the whole poem, the poet doesn’t talk about death directly but he uses imagery of a ship which is entering a port. The port is a haven for the ship from the sea which is a potential danger. The poet used the port to represent heaven. The journey of the ship before entering the port is representing life. In the sentence ‘ And may there be no moaning of the bar.’ we see that like a ship’s captain wishes to be safe when going in and out of the port so he waits for a high tide to avoid any dangers, the poet wishes that his death is an easy one with no pain. He emphases this in the phrase ‘Too full for sound and foam,’ In the sentence ‘When that which drew from out the boundless deep, turns again home.’ He is referring to the soul which returns ‘home’ to its Maker in heaven, like the ship returns to the port (its home) from the boundless deep, the sea. The third paragraph starts by having one foot in reality and one foot in eternity ‘Twilight and evening bell’. He is on the edge of dying and he is positive about it because he will go to rest. He prays, wishing that his relatives and friends do not cry for him when he dies, like families do when the ship with their husbands and fathers aboard it leaves port. In the last paragraph he shares his wish that when his time to die arrives wherever he is, he would like that God, like a pilot that leads the ship safely in and out of the port ,leads him from life to death and help him cross from earth to heaven. This poem is very tranquil due to its slow pace. It’s as if the poet is feeling weak and depends greatly on God. All he is waiting for is God to be ready to lead him like a captain waits for the signal of the Pilot that the tide is high.