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.
" No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not knock those who work with him. Don't knock your friends. Don't knock your enemies. Don't knock yourself. "
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Becalmed off Halfway Rock, Fitz Henry Lane, 1860.
Thoughts
Even though this is a poem about the speaker's imminent death, it invokes peaceful imagery of a ship calmly sailing across a sandbar. His voyage is one of acceptance. All is as it should be. His ultimate hope is that he will encounter God after passing through the veil of death.
The rhythm of the poem even feels like the ebb and pull of the sea. And the imagery of the sun setting over the vast ocean invokes feelings of beauty, awe, terror of the unknown, and an impending closure.
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