Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Sunset and evening star, Meaning: The poem opens at sunset, a symbol of life's ending.

And one clear call for me! Meaning: The speaker hears a personal call to depart.

And may there be no moaning of the bar, Meaning: He hopes his crossing will not be noisy or troubled.

When I put out to sea, Meaning: Going out to sea stands for dying.

But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Meaning: The speaker asks for a calm and natural tide.

Too full for sound and foam, Meaning: He wants the movement to be so smooth it barely seems to stir.

When that which drew from out the boundless deep Meaning: The sea that once came from the deep now turns homeward again.

Turns again home. Meaning: Death is imagined as a return rather than an ending.

Twilight and evening bell, Meaning: The day darkens further toward night.

And after that the dark! Meaning: The sound of the bell marks another stage of departure.

And may there be no sadness of farewell, Meaning: Again he hopes there will be no sorrowful farewell.

When I embark; Meaning: He wants this leaving to be peaceful.

For though from out our bourne of Time and Place Meaning: Human life is described as a limited world of time and place.

The flood may bear me far, Meaning: The speaker may be carried far beyond that world.

I hope to see my Pilot face to face Meaning: Yet he hopes to meet his divine guide directly.

When I have crost the bar. Meaning: The final line names death as the crossing of the sandbar.