Crossing the Bar

poem by Tennyson

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Article History

Crossing the Bar, short poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, written in 1889 at age 80, three years before he died and published in the collection Demeter and Other Poems (1889). Describing a ferry trip to the Isle of Wight, it concerns his imminent death and his hopes for an afterlife. Tennyson requested that it be printed as the final poem in all volumes of his verse.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.