Crossing the Bar By Lord Alfred Tennyson Page 824

Tennyson, the man Practiced dramatic/poetic gestures from an early age. He knew he would be a poet. His father, a clergyman, encouraged his interest in poetry. Studied at Cambridge University. There he joined the Apostles. His father’s death in 1831 brought about harsh times.

Tennyson, the man (continued) Published his first major poetry in its melancholy themes were a weak imitation of Keats’ language. Even when his physical and mental health suffered, Tennyson never considered any career but poetry. He published nothing in his “ten years’ silence”

Tennyson, the man (continued) In 1850 he published in Memoriam, an elegy that tells the story of his own recovery of faith in the immortality of the soul and the harmony of creations – despite the new, unsettling discoveries of science and his deep sense of the unfairness of death.

Tennyson, the man (continued) That year, he was named poet laureate, and finally married. He settled into the long, successful career that had been expected. He was considered the greatest living poet for the rest of his life.

Tennyson, the poet He published nearly a dozen volumes of poems. –Idylls of the King: story of the rise, fall, and possible return of King Arthur. Told parables about ht emoral qualities of good political leaders and of their betrayal by the rest of us Lost the melancholy & chaos of early poems.

Tennyson, the poet Was/Is immensely popular. Assured his readers that his own experience of sadness and disorder had taught him that everything was part of a benevolent plan in which eventually all losses would be made good

Getting Ready to Read (in your journals…) What do you predict the images of harbor, bar (sandbar), and sea in this poem will symbolize? A bar is a sandbar at the mouth of a harbor. Beyond the bar is deep sea. Writing 2.3: Exploring significance Flexible in thinking : tries to understand both sides of an issue

Background Tennyson wrote this poem in 1889, at the age of eighty, while crossing the channel that separates England from the Isle of Wight. Before his death, in 1892, he directed that the poem be printed at the end of all editions of his collected verse. Reading 2.1 Analyze features of texts. Uses past knowledge in new situations and connects two different ideas.

Introducing Key Vocabulary 1.Bar : Sandbar 2.Pilot : a person who knows the local waters and guides a ship as it enters or leaves a harbor. Word Analysis 1.1 & 1.2 Precision of Language

First Reading of the Poem Disc 13, Selection 11

Rereading/Analyzing the Text Reread the first stanza. From whom do you think the speaker receives this “one clear call” The first stanza establishes the two controlling metaphors of the poem: Crossing the bar represents dying and the sea represents the mystery of whatever comes after death. What might the auditory image. What could the famous image “moaning of the bar” suggest? What does the speaker wish in the first stanza? Reading Comprehension 2.2 Listens with understanding and builds on others’ ideas.

Rereading/Analyzing the Text Reread the second stanza What is “that” (line 7)? What is suggested by the word home (line 8)? What do you think Tennyson was trying to accomplish by alternating long and short lines? Reading Comprehension 2.2 Listens with understanding and builds on others’ ideas. He was imitating the ebb and flow of the tides; he wished to surprise his readers and thereby hold the interests..

Rereading/Analyzing the Text Reread the third stanza What thoughts do the words “evening bell” (9) bring to mind? What might “twilight” (10) symbolize? What does the speaker request in lines 11-12? Reading Comprehension 2.2 Listens with understanding and builds on others’ ideas.

Note: Bourne might have reminded Tennyson’s readers of Hamlet’s famous image of death “The undiscovered country, from whose bourn / No traveler returns” (III.i.79) Reread the final stanza How would you describe the speaker’s outlook? What might “the flood” (14) symbolize? Who might the “Pilot” be in line 15? Rereading/Analyzing the Text Reading Comprehension 2.2 Listens with understanding and builds on others’ ideas.

Rereading/Analyzing the Text What does Tennyson want to do after crossing the bar? What is the literal voyage described? What DOESN’T the speaker want others to do? What is the speaker’s overall mood?

The End